Student Tribune
MCC Teams Up with Other Community Colleges to Boost Graduation Rates for Single Mothers
The national nonprofit Education Design Lab today announced the community
colleges selected to be part of a multi-year design challenge that will test
and scale strategies to dramatically improve success rates for single mothers
over the next six years. The cohort of institutions selected for the initiative
includes:
- Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque, N.M.,
which is the largest community college in New Mexico, serving more than 36,000
students per year, and a designated Hispanic Serving Institution.
- Delgado Community College, New Orleans,
La., the state's largest community college, which enrolls more
than 20,000 students, nearly 20 percent of whom are single parents.
- Monroe Community College, Rochester, N.Y., with urban and
suburban campuses, serves more than 29,000 students, including hundreds of
single mothers who live at or below the federal poverty line.
- Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis, Ind., the
country's largest singly accredited statewide community college system and
serves 160,000 students.
Each year, 2.1 million single mothers enroll in higher education. Research
from the Institute for Women's Policy
Research found that nearly 90 percent were low-income, 43 percent worked
more than 30 hours a week, and 40 percent said they were likely or very likely
to drop out due to dependent care obligations. IWPR reports that among all
women attending community college, 21 percent are single mothers and 44 percent
of all single student mothers attend public two-year institutions.
"The majority of today's undergraduate students are parents or caregivers,
adult learners, part-time students, and full-time workers. And single mothers
in particular are not well served by the current system," said Marta Urquilla,
Chief Program Officer at the Education Design Lab. "The institutions we have
selected for this design challenge are working hard to change that. Each has
already demonstrated a unique commitment to improving outcomes for single
mothers. Together, they have transformative potential to create and scale new
models to reach more women and families across the country."
"Monroe Community College is committed to transforming student lives and
communities in order to drive regional economic development and build global
engagement and understanding," said Monroe Community College President Anne M.
Kress. "The timing couldn't be more perfect for us. Participating in this
design challenge will help support our single mother students transform their
lives, the lives of their children, and their community. We are excited to
expand to design more targeted services to increase degree attainment among
this unique population. "
With backing from ECMC
Foundation, Education Design Lab selected the participating institutions
from a national pool of applicants based on their innovation readiness,
approach to student success, and student demographics. The cohort has committed
to collaborate in the design of innovative programs and initiatives with the
goal of raising attainment rates for single mothers by 30 percent at their
institutions by 2024.
Read more about this exciting news provided by the Education Design Lab online.
DeMario, Mary Ann
Institutional Research
04/05/2019