CNM to Help Boost Graduation Rates for Single Mothers

The national nonprofit Education Design Lab recently announced that four community colleges, including CNM, were selected to be part of a multi-year design challenge that will test and scale strategies to dramatically improve success rates for single mothers.

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.

“Central New Mexico Community College is very proud to be one of the four community colleges selected for the Single Moms Success cohort,” says CNM President Kathie Winograd. “We are building our capacity to use data to identify our student parent learners and to inform the ways that we support their success on our campuses. As a college, we are on the cusp of making large-scale changes that can benefit single mother students.”

Over the next two years, the Education Design Lab will facilitate a structured process for the institutions to design, implement, and scale interventions that can dramatically improve attainment rates for single mothers attending community college.

Higher education design experts and subject matter experts from the Lab and its network will support the institutions as they test and scale innovations designed to meet the unique needs of single mothers. Upon successful completion of the design year, each institution will be eligible to receive a one-time startup fund (up to $50,000) to support the launch of the pilot.

"A college credential is critical to improving the economic mobility of millions of single mothers and their families," said Peter Taylor, President of ECMC Foundation. "As part of our commitment to improving outcomes for single moms in postsecondary education, this work will power the development of specialized supports and interventions to bring evidence-based strategies to help more single mothers succeed in college."

Evaluation and dissemination will be a core component of the initiative. The four community colleges will participate in an evaluation to track student outcomes and surface new research and insights for closing achievement gaps among parent learners nationwide. Through this initiative, the Lab is contributing to a growing movement of research, awareness and action centered on single mother learners. The competitive pool of institutions that applied for the design challenge represent part of a renewed, nationwide focus on single parents at the nation's community colleges.

“This Single Moms Success Design Challenge will help us advance our goals of expanding access to high-quality services for our students and ultimately our community at large,” President Winograd says. “We look forward to working together and learning from each other to help more single mother learners succeed on our campuses and beyond.”