This study was undertaken to identify the facilitating factors and barriers to the participation of students' parents in family education courses. The research method was qualitative, of the phenomenological type. The research population consisted of all instructors of family education courses, school principals, and parents of male and female students enrolled in elementary and secondary schools (first and second cycle) in Zanjan Province during the 2020–2021 academic year. Sampling was purposive, using the saturation method; 19 parents, 9 school principals, and 6 instructors of family education courses were selected from various educational districts of the province. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method in MAXQDA 2018. The findings identified 5 main categories, 26 subcategories, and 667 semantic codes. The main categories were: factors related to the school, factors related to the instructor, factors related to the subject and content of the courses, factors related to the family, and infrastructure and culture. In light of the facilitating factors and barriers identified, it is recommended that education practitioners — particularly planners of family education courses, officials of parent associations, school principals, and course instructors — take these factors into account in order to increase parental participation in such courses.