The FamilyU Seal:
Honoring institutions and organizations that champion
student parents

A national certification for higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations making significant strides in intentionally serving student parents.

The FamilyU Seal is a national certification awarded to higher education institutions and nonprofits that demonstrate exemplary, measurable efforts in supporting parenting students. These efforts result in remarkable outcomes for the institutions, organizations, and the students they serve.

To evaluate inclusivity and support of student parents, we use our FamilyU technical assistance framework that helps colleges and universities build their capacity to better serve this population.

The purpose of the Seal program is to:

• Identify institutions and organizations that are actively investing in student parent success across the country

• Inspire other institutions and organizations to invest in student parent success

• Increase awareness of the student parent population

Through all of our work, we have seen the importance of investing in parenting students and centering their voices in all that we do; the connection between student parent work and racial justice work; and the evidence that when institutions and organizations intentionally support student parents, everyone benefits.

The application for the 2024-2027 FamilyU Seal is due July 15, 2024.

FamilyU Seal Eligibility & Process

Eligibility:

Higher Education Institutions: Any two- or four-year nonprofit postsecondary institution (public or private) within the United States and its territories can apply. Higher education districts with multiple independently operated and led institutions (rather than a district of campuses that operate as one institution) cannot apply for the Seal.  However, an individual institution within that district can apply.

Nonprofit organizations: Any nonprofit organization that is directly serving parenting college students in the United States and its territories can apply.

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Awards:

While there is no cap on the number of institutions and organizations that will receive a seal (the number will be determined by how many meet the baseline criteria), we will select one exemplar institution to receive a $25,000 award, and one exemplar nonprofit to receive a $15,000 award to support their continued student parent work.

Application Review and Fee:

A Review Committee composed of student parents, funders, advocates, educators, and other key partners will assist in reviewing and scoring applications. Generation Hope staff will compile scores and make final decisions regarding FamilyU Seal recipients.

The FamilyU Seal application fee is $250 to support the administrative costs associated with the program and must be paid by credit card at the time of application submission.

Post-Selection Activities for Recipients:

The FamilyU Seal is a three-year designation. Institutions and organizations that are selected in 2024 will be showcased as a recipient until the summer of 2027. At the end of the three-year cycle, institutions and organizations must reapply for the FamilyU Seal. The FamilyU Seal opportunity will be available on an annual basis.

All FamilyU Seal Recipients must:

• Display the official FamilyU Seal on the certification page of their website and on any student parent web pages 

• Share the promotional materials provided by Generation Hope during the September 2024 announcement of all recipients

The exemplar institution and organization must also:

• Use the funds to advance their student parent work

• Provide a brief explanation of how the funds have been used six months after the funds are distributed

• Send at least one representative to Generation Hope’s national conference, HOPE 2025, April 9-11, 2025 in National Harbor, MD to accept the award

To learn more about applying for the FamilyU Seal, please see our Frequently Asked Questions.