Research indicates the loss of a parent affects chances of obtaining a college degree
image by flickr user lee morley, cc license For every two years of college, 1.7% of students can expect a parent to pass away. This statistic, from Balk, Walker and Baker's "Prevalence And Severity Of College Student Bereavement Examined In A Randomly Selected Sample," shows how common parent death is among college students. In numbers alone, 1.7% of students translates to roughly 360,000 college students in the U.S. over a two-year period. Compounding this astounding rate of loss and heartbreak is the fact that losing a parent can effect educational attainment.