Generation Hope

Fewer than 2% of teen mothers earn a college degree before age 30, and more than half of all parenting college students leave school without a degree. We’re committed to changing these statistics one family and one system at a time.

We know that educational attainment can change lives. Founded in 2010, Generation Hope works directly with young parents earning their college degrees and with their young children to prepare them for kindergarten, advocates nationally for the unique needs of student parents and their families, and partners with colleges and universities to provide technical assistance in order to advance student parent success in higher education.

Our direct work with young parents in college and their children aligns with our mission, vision, and values.

• Our Scholar Program surrounds teen parents with mentoring, tuition assistance, a peer community, and other vital, wrap-around services. Generation Hope Scholars graduate at a rate that is double the rate for low-income college students and eight times the rate for single mothers nationwide. As alumni, they are working in fields ranging from computer engineering to education.
• Generation Hope’s early childhood program, Next Generation Academy, provides robust literacy, academic, and social-emotional supports so that the children of our Scholars enter kindergarten ready to thrive. Through our two-generation model, Generation Hope provides young families with the foundation they need to create legacies of educational and economic opportunity.

Our systems-change work with higher ed professionals, policy makers, and practitioners is informed by our boots-on-the-ground experience with families and is rooted in our commitment to race equity.

• Policy and Advocacy: One in five college students today is a parent, and despite having higher GPAs than their non-parenting peers, an estimated 52% of undergraduate student parents leave school without a degree within six years, compared to 32% of students without children. Many systems are not designed for student parent success, but local and federal policies can help change this.
• Higher Ed & Technical Assistance: Drawing on our 10+ years of on-the-ground experience with students, Generation Hope is mobilizing college leaders to accelerate the success of student parents on their campuses through our national program. Our work with colleges and universities across the country is not only transforming the way institutions support student parents but also the higher-ed field as a whole.

You can mentor in a group or as an individual (in either our DC or New Orleans locations), become a Hope Corps member (Childcare Volunteer), and more. You can also learn about our job and internship openings here.