For Immediate Release:
GENERATION HOPE LAUNCHES NATIONAL RECOGNITION PROGRAM FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AND NONPROFITS CHAMPIONING SUCCESS FOR PARENTING COLLEGE STUDENTS NATIONWIDE
WASHINGTON ⸺ May 9, 2023 ⸺ Nonprofit Generation Hope announced today the launch of their FamilyU Seal program. The Seal program is a national certification for higher education institutions that are actively investing in student parent success. In addition to certifying colleges and universities, Generation Hope will also recognize nonprofit organizations that are directly serving parenting students and advancing positive outcomes. Building on Generation Hope’s mission to increase awareness of the student parent population, the FamilyU Seal seeks to inspire other institutions and organizations to invest in student parent success.
“Since 2010, Generation Hope has been working to ensure young parents and student parents of any age have the support, resources, and opportunities to become college graduates, and over the years it has been exciting to see more institutions and organizations similarly investing in ensuring their success,” said Nicole Lynn Lewis, Founder and CEO of Generation Hope. “In order for college completion and economic mobility to become a reality for more families nationwide, this movement must continue to grow. To that end, we are thrilled to honor those institutions and organizations through the FamilyU Seal program that are not only acknowledging parenting students, but also aiding their pathway to and through college.”
The FamilyU Seal represents an expansion of Generation Hope’s FamilyU cohort program, which is a comprehensive, customized, evidence-based, two-year capacity-building experience designed to build and refine institutional competencies to improve student parent success. Since 2021, over 15 colleges and universities have partnered with Generation Hope through the FamilyU initiative to help promote student parent success, impacting more than 60,000 student parents. Colleges outside of the FamilyU cohorts are eligible to apply for the FamilyU Seal as well as nonprofit organizations that are successfully helping parenting students and producing exceptional outcomes.
Any two or four-year nonprofit postsecondary institution, public or private, and any nonprofit organization that is directly serving parenting college students within the United States and its territories are eligible to apply for the FamilyU Seal. Institutions meeting the Seal criteria will earn the recognition, and there will be one exemplar higher education institution and one exemplar nonprofit organization selected to receive a cash award. The exemplar institution will receive $25,000 and the exemplar organization will receive $15,000.
For the past 13 years, Generation Hope has celebrated nearly 150 degrees earned, having served more than 300 young parents at more than 20 different two and four-year schools in the Washington D.C. metro region in their pursuit of a college degree. Generation Hope is now expanding the Scholar program to New Orleans, Louisiana in the summer of 2023. Generation Hope’s unique model pairs direct work with families on their journey to economic mobility to systemic change work that seeks to dismantle long-standing barriers in higher education through policy work and partnerships with colleges and universities nationwide.
Applications for the FamilyU Seal are open now through July 15, 2023. The selected FamilyU Seal institutions and organizations will be notified in August and announced publicly in September during National Student Parent Month.
To follow updates about the FamilyU Seal and Generation Hope, please visit generationhope.org.
Media Contacts:
Dreena Whitfield
908-588-2602
dreena@whitpr.com
Brionna Miller
973-861-3554
brionna@whitpr.com
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About Generation Hope
To ensure all student parents have the opportunities to succeed and experience economic mobility, Generation Hope engages education and policy partners to drive systemic change and provides direct support to teen parents in college as well as their children through holistic, two-generation programming. @supportgenhope