A College Without Walls: How College Unbound is Redefining Higher Education

By Asha-Lee Peterkin

FamilyU Fellow Raheem Jackson and Chris Dickson, Assistant Dean for Student Success, College Unbound at the 2023-2025 Cohort Celebration, Washington, D.C. June 2025

Imagine a college where the classroom looks less like a campus quad and more like the heart of a neighborhood. Where degrees are earned not by stepping away from life, but by weaving learning into it. At College Unbound (CU), a private nonprofit institution and proud participant in our 2023 FamilyU cohort, that vision is reality. At CU, Adult learners are redefining what higher education can be, and 72% of CU students are parenting

Founded on the belief that education should meet students where they are, CU does more than offer degrees, it offers recognition. “We often say, we see you,” shares Chris Dickson, Assistant Dean for Student Success. “For many of our students, the realization comes when they understand that their lived experience is already a source of knowledge. Parenting, caregiving, leading at work, advocating in their communities—these are not distractions from education, they are education.”

That belief has translated into concrete recognition of students’ lives. 

“Our staff worked closely with the College Unbound team for two years as part of the 2023–2025 FamilyU Cohort, and we are forever changed,” says Trasi Watson, Director of Learning & Innovation at Generation Hope.“By the end of the Cohort, one major win was that 29 students earned a total of 312 college credits across the 2023–24 and 2024–25 academic years. These credits came through Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) for Family Caregiving, which recognizes real-life experiences like raising children or caring for aging relatives as valuable college-level learning.” 

In addition to CPL, CU invites students to design passion-based projects that directly impact their communities, instead of separating academic learning from daily life.  

This philosophy disrupts traditional higher ed. At CU, students don’t leave their communities behind to pursue degrees; instead, the college plants itself inside those communities. Learning is happening at Boys & Girls Clubs, community centers, and local organizations. Faculty and staff aren’t distant figures hidden behind office doors—they are community ambassadors, mentors, and, often, alumni who have walked the same path. In fact, more than a third of CU’s staff are former students, many now leading transformative efforts within the institution itself.

These exemplary approaches honor the lived experience of adult students. “CU’s unique and progressive model of expanding access to postsecondary education—and their continued commitment, from CPL to family-inclusive graduation ceremonies—is truly inspiring.” says Trasi. 

CU has deepened its commitment by creating roles that center student parent voices. A new staff position now leads the Institutional Storytelling Initiative, ensuring narratives that drive systems change come directly from those with lived experience. Students are building infrastructure, too—CU launched SPARC, a virtual student-led resource and advocacy hub facilitated by two student parents to expand peer-driven support and leadership.

“Traditional admissions offices feel like sales,” explained Jose Rodriguez, Assistant Vice President of Community & Belonging. “At CU, we call our admissions team Community Ambassadors. These are our neighbors. Education isn’t something separate, it’s woven into our everyday life.”

These initiatives are reshaping what student success looks like. Before becoming AVP, Jose was a CU student whose Change Project launched a nonprofit barbershop offering free haircuts to kids—believing that looking and feeling good could boost confidence. That project still ripples outward as new CU students adopt and expand it.

This approach reflects reality: CU students often balance school with caregiving, full-time work, and systemic barriers. Recognizing that, CU redefined “adult learner.” As Jose put it, “It’s not just about age. A student may be 17 or 18, but if they’re raising children, working, and carrying full adult responsibilities, then they are an adult learner. Our job is to honor that reality, not force them into a box.”

During FamilyU, Student Parent Fellow Raheem Jackson launched a podcast to elevate student parent voices and built new opportunities to engage student fathers. CU also added a dedicated staff role for student parent storytelling—directly shaped by their FamilyU partnership.

Raheem reflected, “Creating the podcast was an amazing experience. It allowed me to share both the challenges and wins of student parenting and hear from students who saw themselves in our stories. For many, it helped them feel less alone and motivated to continue their own projects and advocacy. The most significant outcome for me has been continuing this work as Community Care Coordinator for PA, connecting with student parents, creating spaces for their voices, and lifting up fathers and male caregivers whose stories often go unheard. Seeing other student parents step into leadership and advocacy has been incredibly inspiring.”

CU fast-tracks what takes traditional campuses years to achieve. Students don’t have to wait until graduation to make a difference, they’re doing it now with their communities and for their communities.

The impact extends beyond individuals. CU embraces a two-generation approach, recognizing that education is most powerful when it uplifts families. Their “Big Ten” leadership competencies include activities designed for parents to do with their children, reframing parenting not as a challenge to education, but as a site of leadership and learning. Graduation ceremonies often feature parents walking the stage with their children, a present reminder of intergenerational impact. 

The pandemic revealed just how forward-thinking CU’s model was. While other colleges scrambled to move online, CU already had a hybrid structure in place. Enrollment grew, not shrank. They even developed their own learning management system, intentionally designed to reduce barriers and front-load small wins, ensuring students began their journeys with confidence rather than confusion.

College Unbound has proven that higher education does not need ivy-covered walls and traditional lecture halls to change lives. It requires community, recognition, and a refusal to separate learning from living.

As CU’s board chair Wendell Pritchett described, “College Unbound is reparations.” Not in a symbolic sense, but in the practical, urgent work of democratizing higher education for communities historically excluded from its promises. It is education as repair, education as mobility, education as belonging.

And perhaps most importantly, it is education as joy. Chris recalled graduations where children cheered as their parents received diplomas, and parents, in turn, felt inspired by their children to continue their own educational journeys. “It’s powerful,” he said, smiling. “When a whole household begins to see themselves as learners, that’s when the real transformation happens.”

In a time when higher education faces growing questions about access and affordability, College Unbound offers a vision of what’s possible: a college without walls, rooted in community, and built on the belief that students already hold the knowledge and leadership the world needs.

Because when education begins with recognition, when it begins with “we see you”, anything is possible.