Afterschool Alliance Surveys Parents on Afterschool Programs and STEM Opportunities

The Afterschool Alliance recently celebrated the 15th annual Lights On Afterschool! The event celebrates thousands of afterschool programs and events nationwide—events that draw attention to the importance of afterschool programs and the positive benefits they provide to students, families and communities. This year, the event comes exactly one week after the Afterschool Alliance released a new household survey of more than 30,000 families, “2014 America After 3 PM.”

While 10 million children currently participate in afterschool programs nationwide, the demand for programs is still far greater than the supply. Parents of another 19.4 million school children report that they would like to enroll their children in such programs if they were available. The report further finds that afterschool programs have high approval ratings (89 percent of parents were satisfied), but large opportunity gaps exist in the demand for afterschool programs, especially amongst low-income, African-American and Hispanic children, due to increased costs and safety.

This year’s survey, for the first time, asked parents about afterschool STEM education opportunities. Overall, parents agreed that afterschool programs do and should offer STEM learning opportunities. Of the parents surveyed, 65 percent believe that afterschool programs can help children develop skills and interest in STEM-related areas. More than half of parents report that STEM opportunities are a very important factor in their selection of an afterschool program, and 85 percent of these parents are satisfied with their program’s current STEM offerings. Sixty-nine percent of parents report that their current afterschool program provides STEM learning opportunities. The majority of parents of high school students in an afterschool program ranked college and career exploration and preparation opportunities as important factors in their selection of a program.

The report includes more information on participation rates and the kinds of activities programs offer young people. For more information, read further details on on Lights On Afterschool and to read the full report, “2014 America After 3 PM.”