Rent a mom for your college kid? Some parents are spending up to $2,500
Nov 8, 2026, 5:00 AM
These days, some parents aren’t just sending their kids off to college with a laptop and a laundry bag — they’re sending money to rent a mom!
These aren’t babysitters. They’re not tutors. They’re more like a mom-on-demand for college students whose real moms are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles away.
And apparently, there’s a market for that motherly touch.
According to The New York Post, these services are growing in college towns around the country.
Some Rent-A-Mom services offer laundry and dorm cleaning.
Need a little homemade chicken soup? Mom’s got you. Forgot to pick up your prescription? There’s a mom for that, too.
And the price tag? Well, this is definitely not your average allowance.
‘Bama Mama’ offers rent-a-mom support for up to $2,500
Carrie Eckhardt is known as the “Bama Mama” near the University of Alabama. Her packages range from nearly $1,300 to $2,500.
But Eckhardt began her social media presence as “Uber Mama.”
“All of the kids would call me, say I sounded just like their mom, because whenever they would get out of the car, I would say, ‘Don’t drink too much, pace yourself. If you arrive together, you leave together. Don’t take any drinks that didn’t come from the bartender,'” Eckhardt told WVTM.
And it quickly transformed into “Bama Mama.”
“Parents started liking and seeing their kids, and because they had a relationship, and like, ‘Hey, they were in your Uber the other day,’ they asked if I could take them some medicine or help them out, or it’s their birthday coming up,” she said. “Can you, if you’re not busy, can you deliver them some flowers?”
One parent based in Texas said it’s comforting to have Bama Mama nearby watching out for her son who’s a freshman.
“Makes me feel good,” she said. “I mean, like a piece of my heart is in Alabama, and so it’s just great to know that there’s another Mama there to love on, and I’m gonna cry.”
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Rent-a-mom services spark debate over college independence
In St. Louis, Mindy Horwitz founded a campus concierge service called Mindy Knows.
It has expanded to eight universities, helping students navigate everything from finding doctors and mechanics to life’s everyday little hiccups.
However, there’s a growing debate online about these rent-a-mom services.
The appeal for some parents is knowing there’s someone nearby when they can’t be. But others say college is supposed to be the time when kids learn to be adults.
Make their own appointments, cook something other than ramen, and separate whites from colors.
But the rent-a-moms aren’t necessarily apologizing for what they do. They see themselves as a support system.
So is this the ultimate peace of mind for parents, or is this taking helicopter parenting to a whole new level?
Read more of Katrina Guischard’s stories here.
