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Adelphi, Md. (June 18, 2025) — University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of four institutions nationwide to take part in , a two-year initiative addressing the unique challenges faced by students who also juggle parenting responsibilities.��

Generation Hope estimates that fewer than 2 percent of teen mothers earn a college degree before age 30 and more than half of all students who are parents never graduate.���� FamilyU Cohort is designed to provide student parents with technical assistance that will help them stay on track so they can complete their degrees, advance their career prospects, and build their families’ security.����

“At University of Maryland Global Campus, we are deeply committed to expanding access to higher education and supporting the success of all learners—and we are acutely aware of the challenges that student-parents face as they balance the demands of coursework, career, and family,” said UMGC President Gregory Fowler. “Generation Hope’s mission is one that resonates deeply across our institution, aligning with our own focus on inspiring hope, empowering dreams, and transforming lives ... one student at a time.����

“We are honored to join the FamilyU Cohort and look forward to learning from our peers, sharing our experiences, and working together to make the world better and brighter for generations to come.”��

Coaches trained to work with students who are parents are a key component of Generation Hope’s evidence-based initiative, which kicks off in July and runs through June 2027. The educational institutions that make up the FamilyU Cohort will review and revise their rules and policies, improve the systems through which they track the student parents’ enrollment and outcomes, undertake training to make faculty and staff aware of student parents’ particular challenges, and cultivate a campus culture that is welcoming to students with children.����

UMGC is especially well-positioned to become a leader among family-friendly educational institutions. An estimated 35,000 students, or 44 percent of the student body, identify as parents or caregivers. The university also relies on a success-coach system that has been shown to contribute to student performance.��

UMGC’s participation is underpinned by its commitment to adult learners and its leadership in developing innovative approaches to student success. Generation Hope’s priorities for the initiative—to increase student parents’ enrollment levels, ensure they remain on track with their academic goals, and see them graduate—dovetail with UMGC’s mission.��

“At t è������, we believe supporting student-parents is critical to our mission of expanding access and transforming lives through education,” said Martina Hansen, senior vice president for student affairs. “With nearly half of our students also serving as caregivers, our partnership with Generation Hope and participation in the Family U Cohort is a powerful opportunity to build systems that recognize and uplift the realities of today’s learners. This work is not just about student success—it’s about generational change.”��

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About University of Maryland Global Campus ��

University of Maryland Global Campus was founded more than 75 years ago specifically to serve the higher education needs of working adults and military servicemembers. Today UMGC is the largest provider of postsecondary education in Maryland, and it continues its global tradition with online and hybrid courses, more than 175 classroom and service locations worldwide, and more than 135 degrees and certificates backed by the reputation of a state university and the University System of Maryland. For more information, visit umgc.edu. ��

About FamilyU ��

FamilyU is led by non-profit Generation Hope, which was founded in 2010 and is dedicated to ensuring student-parents succeed in college and break cycles of poverty through systemic policy change and direct support. FamilyU partners with colleges and universities to enhance support for parent students by strengthening four core institutional competencies: policy, data, people, and culture.������