Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    AI and Microcredentials
Sign In
News

To Help Latinas Get to College, Strengthen the Mother-Daughter Bond

By Kelly Field February 5, 2017

In the early ’90s, when Con Mi Madre got its start, a Texas demographer reported that a Latina girl born in the state had less than a 1 percent chance of going to college.

Twenty-five years later, those odds have improved for some: Over half of Latinas who graduate from high school in central Texas will enroll in college in the state.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

In the early ’90s, when Con Mi Madre got its start, a Texas demographer reported that a Latina girl born in the state had less than a 1 percent chance of going to college.

Twenty-five years later, those odds have improved for some: Over half of Latinas who graduate from high school in central Texas will enroll in college in the state.

But Latinas still trail their white peers when it comes to college attendance, and only 15 percent of Latina high-school students in central Texas will earn a college degree.

College 101 for Parents
Helping moms and dads help their first-generation students succeed
  • 4 Parent-Education Programs and Their Lessons for Colleges
  • Let Parents Be Parents
  • College 101 for Parents

Those are the statistics that Con Mi Madre, an Austin-based college-prep program that works with mother-daughter pairs, is trying to change, duo by duo.

The program’s name means “With My Mother,” and it aims to strengthen the mother-daughter bond that has been shown to increase a girl’s chances of going to college. Starting in sixth grade, girls and their mothers volunteer on community-service projects together, tour colleges together, and attend Saturday seminars where they learn strategies for maintaining good grades, dealing with peer pressure, developing healthy self-esteem, and setting goals. Each conference begins with a bonding activity like yoga or jewelry making.

While most college-prep programs focus on academics and paying for college, Con Mi Madre puts equal emphasis on socioemotional growth and interpersonal communication. That’s in part because Latina adolescents have the highest rates of depression and suicidal thoughts of all female teenagers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“In order for these girls to succeed, they need for their moms to support them,” said Teresa Granillo, the program’s executive director. “And a lot of the moms want something better for their girls, but they don’t know what it takes.”

The program is also trying to change cultural attitudes about girls and college. In the past, Latino boys were encouraged to go to college, while girls were expected to stay home and learn to cook and take care of the children. That’s no longer the norm, “but we do still encounter some of that,” Ms. Granillo said.

For some of the mother-daughter pairs, their first meeting with Con Mi Madre will be the first time they’ve discussed the possibility of college.

ADVERTISEMENT

Con Mi Madre grew out of the Hispanic Mother-Daughter program, a community-based program created by the Austin Junior League, in Texas, in 1992. In 2008, when the program got too big for the Junior League to sponsor, it became its own nonprofit, and changed its name. Today the program serves more than 750 students in six Austin-area districts and has plans to expand beyond the city.

More than 80 percent of the mothers speak only Spanish, and the program celebrates Latino culture throughout, in “Soy Latina” (I am Latina) conferences, where students sing Selena songs and dance Flamenco, and in nutrition classes that offer healthier versions of traditional foods.

The program requires a big commitment: Parents have to sign a contract that they will participate fully with their child, and girls have to attend 80 percent of the bimonthly meetings at their schools. If they miss that target, they are put on participation probation and given six months to prove their commitment to the program.

But statistics suggest it is worth the effort. Girls who complete the program have a 260 percent better chance of attending college than do their peers. For every 100 students who finish the program, 100 will graduate high school, 77 will go on to college, and 54 will earn a college degree.

ADVERTISEMENT

There are ripple effects, too. Ms. Granillo says parents will often recruit siblings and cousins into the program.

Ms. Granillo says Con Mi Madre has considered licensing its curriculum, but now it’s leaning toward creating chapters, in part to ensure that the program maintains its cultural component.

Her advice for nonprofit groups and colleges that want to copy Con Mi Madre’s approach is simple: “Don’t treat parents like they’re the vehicle to get the student to the program.”

“You have to make sure parents feel that they’re part of the process, that they have skin in the game, and that their opinions matter,” she said. “The parent cannot be secondary.”

Kelly Field is a senior reporter covering federal higher-education policy. Contact her at kelly.field@chronicle.com. Or follow her on Twitter @kfieldCHE.

A version of this article appeared in the February 10, 2017, issue.
Read other items in College 101 for Parents.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
About the Author
Kelly Field
Kelly Field joined The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2004 and covered federal higher-education policy. She continues to write for The Chronicle on a freelance basis.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Photo illustration showing internal email text snippets over a photo of a University of Iowa campus quad
Red-state reticence
Facing Research Cuts, Officials at U. of Iowa Spoke of a ‘Limited Ability to Publicly Fight This’
Photo illustration showing Santa Ono seated, places small in the corner of a dark space
'Unrelentingly Sad'
Santa Ono Wanted a Presidency. He Became a Pariah.
Illustration of a rushing crowd carrying HSI letters
Seeking precedent
Funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions Is Discriminatory and Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Argues
Photo-based illustration of scissors cutting through paper that is a photo of an idyllic liberal arts college campus on one side and money on the other
Finance
Small Colleges Are Banding Together Against a Higher Endowment Tax. This Is Why.

From The Review

Football game between UCLA and Colorado University, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., Sept. 24, 2022.
The Review | Opinion
My University Values Football More Than Education
By Sigman Byrd
Photo- and type-based illustration depicting the acronym AAUP with the second A as the arrow of a compass and facing not north but southeast.
The Review | Essay
The Unraveling of the AAUP
By Matthew W. Finkin
Photo-based illustration of the Capitol building dome propped on a stick attached to a string, like a trap.
The Review | Opinion
Colleges Can’t Trust the Federal Government. What Now?
By Brian Rosenberg

Upcoming Events

Plain_Acuity_DurableSkills_VF.png
Why Employers Value ‘Durable’ Skills
Warwick_Leadership_Javi.png
University Transformation: a Global Leadership Perspective
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin