ACE Supports Rise Prize Initiative to Lift Up Student Parents
February 13, 2020

ACE is one of several organizations that partnered with Imaginable Futures—a venture of The Omidyar Group—and Lumina Foundation to launch the Rise Prize on Feb. 12. The Prize will award $1 million in combined prizes to 10 innovative ideas supporting parents’ postsecondary education success.

During a later phase of the initiative, ACE Chief Learning and Innovation Officer Louis Soares will serve on a national advisory group of thought leaders coordinated by The Ascend initiative at The Aspen Institute to provide guidance on strategies and recommendations to build on the best practices identified by the Imaginable Futures project.

Student parents are highly motivated to succeed in postsecondary education, but face many barriers in reaching completion. On average, student parents have higher GPAs than their peers without children, but they face higher stop-out rates and more debt than their nonparent peers.

“Post-traditional learners, including students who are raising children, are a growing presence in our higher education institutions,” said Soares. “It is important that these students receive the services and support they need to be successful in their academic journeys.”

Accelerating the success of student parents has a ripple effect that extends to the whole family, creating a path for families that leads to careers with living wages and improved overall outcomes for parents and their children.

Applications for the Rise Prize are open now through April 6. Winners will be announced at the Jobs of the Futures Horizons conference in New Orleans on June 9-10. To learn more, read the Imaginable Futures press release here.