Long-standing ASU program paves the way for Hispanic first-generation college students

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Arizona State University’s Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program is an early-outreach middle and high school program designed to help first-generation Arizona students prep for college. It’s designed to connect students with ASU and its resources before they start high school to help them achieve academic success. The HMDP, which is open to all first-generation Arizona students (not just mothers and daughters), supports the families as much as it does the students.

The program takes students as they enter the eighth grade and works with them and their families all the way through high school, providing detailed guidance and support as they prepare for college and beyond.

THE HMDP has successfully served nearly 2,400 Arizona families over the years. Arizona’s Family reporter Alaina Kwan spoke with Stephanie Padilla, a senior executive at Intel, about her experience in the program. Padilla and her mom went through the HMDP when it was still specifically for mothers and daughters. “It opened up so many doors in terms of career, aspirations, travel, leadership,” she said, explaining how the program laid the foundation for her success, including 18 years at Intel. Padilla also said the program helped her strengthen her relationship with her mother.

Students and parents meet every month on the ASU campus and attend workshops and classes on everything from financial literacy to leadership to social and emotional well-being. The program aims to set up first-generation students and their families for success. To learn more about the Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program, go to ASU.edu.

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