Nikki Collins - RTB Alum and our Newest Board Member
Meet Nikki Collins, one of Raise The Barr’s newest board members and alumni scholars. Nikki and her son James (or “LJ”) have been members of the Raise The Barr family ever since they began living at the Jeremiah Program five years ago, where our co-founder, Anthony, would frequently visit the kids in daycare. We are so proud of how far Nikki has come in her journey as a single-parent student, which has been anything but easy.
At the time of her first introduction to Raise The Barr (RTB), Nikki was balancing her responsibilities as a student with those of new motherhood. Just like 43.4 million former and current college students across the nation who owe an average of $40,904 in student debt, Nikki had immense bills to pay, even after just two years at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC). Her bills were so high, in fact, that they almost drove her away from further pursuing her dream to study special education.
Furthermore, as a single mother, Nikki was also a part of a highly underrepresented group of college students—parenting students. Student-parents make up over 22% of undergraduates across the country, and yet individuals like Nikki often feel that their family’s needs are not being met: “we don’t always have access to resources, access to childcare,” she pointed out during an interview.
When Nikki applied for and received her first RTB scholarship in 2020, it gave her the opportunity—and confidence—to continue her education at a private four-year university. “Because of Raise The Barr, I haven’t had to pull out a student loan since getting my associate’s degree at MCTC,” Nikki reflects. At RTB, our goal with awarding scholarships is to reduce financial burdens for single parents and help them get closer to economic mobility following their graduation. Nikki states that this support is “pretty much what gave [her] the push to keep going” so that she could eventually land a secure job that would allow her to support LJ, who is now five years old. “I was able to focus on school while the scholarship helped me to pay for electricity bills, phone bills, hospital bills for my son,” says Nikki.
Congratulations are now in order for Nikki. Not only did she earn her bachelor’s degree in special education, but she graduated with a GPA of 3.93 this spring. Additionally, in recognition of her success and hard work—especially given the barriers she had to overcome as a single-mother—she received the Richard J. Thoni presidential award. Originally, Nikki was not going to graduate with any accolades despite her incredible GPA. Due to internal guidelines at Augsburg University, transfer students were excluded from graduating with honors and receiving other awards. After Nikki made the University aware of the problem, however, Augsburg University President Pribbenow vowed to make changes to address the challenges that single parents face when striving to earn their college degrees. As a result of Nikki’s efforts, future students like her will have more opportunity to receive the recognition they deserve.
RTB is so proud to have Nikki as part of our family—not only as an alumni scholar, but also as a board member advising our decision-making. In this position, Nikki will draw from her personal experience as a single-mother student to guide and improve the work that we do. Specifically, she acknowledges the importance of financial literacy education and mental health support for single-parent students, and she hopes to support RTB in addressing both of these needs.
When we asked what takeaway she would like to leave with anyone who hears her story, Nikki encourages her audience to stop worrying about what others around them are doing or achieving, and instead to “keep looking ahead, and stay focused” on their visions. “No one is going to have the same path as you, and no one is going to have the same timeline as you. And so it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get there as long as you get there. … Don't let the people around you dictate if you’re making enough progress or not.” To her fellow single moms, Nikki also reminds you to prioritize taking care of yourselves and focusing on your own needs. “We’ve been working hard, and we deserve it, and we need it, and our body will love us for it.”
Thank you, Nikki, for sharing your story with us. We are so proud of you, and we can’t wait to watch how you and your son grow.
And of course, thank you to our partners and donors for supporting Nikki on her educational journey. Our work is only possible because of YOUR generosity. You supported Nikki and LJ on their path to economic mobility. Thanks for being a part of our team. If you’d like to continue to support our Scholars like Nikki, you can donate below!