Single mothers make up an increasing part of the college student population in the United States. Their educational success can forge a path for economic mobility and success for themselves and their families.
This article comes from the AACC 21st-Century Center.
Eight community colleges will expand their efforts to help single mother students through the College Success for Single Mothers Project. The participating colleges, selected by the National College Transition Network (NCTN) at World Education, are:
- Broward College (Florida)
- Columbus State Community College (Ohio)
- Delaware County Community College (Pennsylvania)
- Frederick Community College (Maryland)
- Kingsborough Community College (New York)
- Lee College (Texas)
- Western Technical College (Wisconsin)
- University of Hawaii, Windward Community College
The colleges will convene a cross-functional task force of decision-makers, practitioners and stakeholders to identify the needs of single mother students on campus and develop a plan to expand practices and services to enhance their college success.
“Students bring their whole selves with them to college, and in order to serve students well, we need to consider all of their roles and identities,” Kari Reyburn, director of equity, inclusion, and community engagement at Western Technical College, said in a release. “We are excited to examine and develop ways we can better serve and achieve college success for single moms at Western; removing barriers and creating more access and inclusion in our services and supports.”
NCTN and partners will develop case studies documenting the colleges’ action plans, outcomes and lessons learned through the project to share with policymakers, funders and investors. The information also will be shared with other colleges interested in better supporting single mother students and parents on campus.
College Success for Single Mothers is a three-year project funded by ECMC Foundation. The project builds on NCTN’s 2019 report “No Matter What Obstacle is Thrown My Way,” which documents examples of 17 community colleges that offer targeted programming for student parents.
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