Of the 17 million undergraduate students in the United States, nearly 1 in 4 are student parents. Yet only 13% of student parents will graduate within 6 years. Now, two leading educational foundations are hoping to change that.

Imaginable Futures, a new venture from The Omidyar Group, and Lumina Foundation recently announced The Rise Prize, a contest intended to make postsecondary degrees more attainable for student parents. The contest page states, “We believe that postsecondary success for parents is crucial in improving educational outcomes for entire families and supporting the journeys of millions of families to economic mobility.”

The contest runs until April 6th and will award one million dollars in combined prizes to ten winners with with innovative ways to help parent learners. Awards will be handed out in three categories. $50,000 to early stage winners, $100,000 to Risers’ Choice awardees, and $200,000 to mature stage winners. 

The Rise Prize is open to, “impact-driven changemakers: companies, programs, and organizations of any type or stage in the US,” so long as they are focused on postsecondary success of parents in college. Judges of the contest will be student parents themselves. 

Learn more and apply here.