By Lara Lomicka Anderson and Shelley Dempsey
When Lexi stepped onto the University of South Carolina (USC) campus as a 17-year-old, low-income, fully financially independent student, she faced the challenge of navigating an unfamiliar academic landscape without guidance from her family. As a first-gen student, Lexi experienced many challenges, but despite these hurdles, she became an active leader by playing a role in the development of the First-Generation Center at the University of South Carolina. This center opened in 2024 and includes an embedded faculty-led First-Generation Living & Learning Community, which is home to more than 150 first-gen students.
The need for wrap-around support for first-gen students is increasingly critical, especially considering recent socioeconomic trends. Recent research by Raj Chetty and colleagues reveals that while racial gaps in upward mobility have narrowed, class disparities have widened, necessitating targeted interventions for low-income students. Approximately 56% of college and university students are first-generation, and they face unique challenges such as financial pressures and feelings of isolation, with 33% dropping out within three years compared to only 14% of continuing-generation students.
First-generation support programs can address these challenges by providing resources like career preparation, academic advising, and guidance on financial aid. These programs can promote a sense of community and belonging, which significantly enhances student motivation, confidence, and academic achievement. This sense of belonging can be enhanced by living-learning communities (LLCs) designed explicitly for first-generation students. In fact, research has reported that first-gen students who live in LLCs have higher levels of thriving than do other LLC students. In sum, these initiatives can further lead to greater student motivation, increased satisfaction with their college experience, and greater retention.
Designing a first-gen center at the University of South Carolina was an extensive, year-long process that involved a collaborative effort of nearly 100 faculty, staff, and students. This diverse team was strategically divided into multiple working groups, each tasked with a specific focus to ensure comprehensive planning and implementation. The working groups engaged in a multifaceted approach, including reviewing current research to understand best practices and emerging trends in supporting first-generation students. They also conducted polls and surveys among the first-gen student population to gain valuable insights into their unique needs and challenges. As part of their mission, the teams crafted mission and vision statements to guide the center's future operations and goals.
An important component of the USC team’s work involved making site visits to other higher education institutions with established and successful first-gen programs. These visits proved invaluable, allowing the team to make first-hand observations of effective practices and experience the impact of well-designed support systems. Perhaps even more significantly, these visits facilitated in-depth conversations with advocates and leaders who had been instrumental in building and sustaining these impactful first-gen support programs. Through these interactions, the USC team gained practical insights and learned from the experiences of their peers. The lessons learned from these visits, particularly from institutions like Wake Forest, the University of Florida, and Emory University, played a crucial role in shaping the vision and structure of USC’s First-Generation Center.
By addressing both academic and socio-emotional needs, first-gen initiatives can play a crucial role in bridging achievement gaps and can lead to a more equitable educational landscape.
At Wake Forest University, Nate French is director of the Magnolia Scholars Program and executive director of First in the Forest, a program that supports first-generation students throughout their academic careers to ensure that they have the same academic assistance and opportunity afforded to other students. “Our innovative programming fills gaps – such as our purchase of passports to encourage students to study abroad,” French explains. “The primary reason listed by first-gen students against studying abroad is that they don't have a passport. We fix that.” And the help can extend to more localized travel. “We provide support for first-gen students in their first year to travel home at Thanksgiving because first-year students are often yearning for a home visit and, though Thanksgiving is a short break, it doesn't feel that way when you're alone.” Beyond these supports, French is an advocate for these students, who have identified his office as a safe space to come when they need help navigating an issue or simply need advice.
First-gen pride is visible around the campus of the University of Florida (UF) where one can observe a variety of signs, buttons, stickers, shirts, and more that signify first-gen students and their advocates. As Elle Collins, director of the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program, explains, “I believe that tailored and targeted support for first-generation students is vital for their retention and success. Tailored support can include career services, academic advising and interventions, mentoring, and mental health resources such as embedded liaisons and group counseling advertised specifically for first-generation students.” Aside from these specific programming efforts, UF has a living-learning community that first-gen students can opt into for on-campus housing and designated spaces to gather with other first-gen classmates.
Emory University has identified building community as one of the most important factors for student success on its campus and as a result has designed specific identity spaces, including Emory First, under the leadership of Kristina K. Bethea Odejimi, associate vice president for belonging, engagement and community and dean of students, who describes the space as an important hub. “Carving out dedicated space for community bolsters first-generation students' ability to find comfort, support, and belonging in the university environment among students with shared experiences and challenges. A hub space for first-generation students can also become the go-to for engaging faculty and staff, who can serve as mirrors for professional success and perseverance.” The Emory First gathering space is intentionally located near other identity spaces like the Asian Student Center, the Black Student Union, and the Center for Women, which makes collaboration and conversation easier and acknowledges intersecting identities.
Drawing from the experiences of these institutions and others, the University of South Carolina designed a first-gen center that appeals to the needs of its own first-gen students, who make up more than 20% of the student body. Successes in the first semester include a faculty-led living-learning community that filled to capacity in its first year, multiple partnerships with faculty to fulfill their research grants and to offer internship opportunities, robust mentoring and networking to build students’ professional skills while increasing their social capital, and ongoing support to help them navigate a large campus. In addition, the First-Gen Center has become an optimum location for campus support offices to meet and get to know first-gen students in a space in which they are comfortable. Examples include an embedded mental health counselor, standard daily hours for the student success center, and an ongoing series called First-Gen Connections that hosts, on-site, a different campus office each week, like the career center or Financial Aid, to discuss items specific to a first-gen student audience.
The creation of the First-Gen Center and targeted support programs has proven transformative for students like Lexi, providing crucial resources and fostering a sense of belonging that is essential for academic success. As the number of first-generation students continues to grow steadily each year, these support systems have become increasingly important. While federally funded TRIO programs offer excellent support for students, they are limited in reach, serving only a fraction of the first-gen population, and must be applied for on a recurring basis.
Comprehensive support initiatives like the First-Gen Center and LLC have made a positive impact on students like Lexi, and these supports contribute to improved retention rates; first-gen students who receive targeted assistance are more likely to persist and graduate. Lexi encourages other first-gen students to “keep advocating for what you need, and you’ll get there eventually. You don’t know if you don’t ask, and other people don’t know how to help you if they don’t know that you’re seeking those resources.”
For Lexi and countless others, first-generation centers have provided a warm, welcoming environment where they can connect with peers, access essential resources, and develop the skills needed to succeed in college. By addressing both academic and socio-emotional needs, first-gen initiatives can play a crucial role in bridging achievement gaps and can lead to a more equitable educational landscape. As institutions continue to invest in and expand these support systems, they pave the way for more first-generation students not just to survive, but also to thrive in their college experiences.
Lara Lomicka Anderson is the vice provost for undergraduate affairs and dean of undergraduate studies and a professor of French and applied linguistics at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Shelley Dempsey is the assistant provost for graduation and retention there.
