First Gen Resources
There are two dedicated support programs for first-generation students on-campus, which offer an array of opportunities for engagement.
The F1RST Program is open to any student that would like to connect with a community of first-generation students, and get proactively connected to support resources and information. Students can connect by joining the F1RST Living Learning Community, registering for the F1RST Hullabaloo U course, and/or attending F1RST events any time they wish.
Selected students within the F1RST Program will additionally be selected for the F1RST Grant Program; note that this is a need-based award and eligibility is based on the FAFSA.
For students within a College of Engineering program on the Galveston campus, selected students will be offered participation in the Regents' Scholars Program. This program includes grant funding as well as a Living Learning Community and dedicated HU courses. This is a need-based program and eligibility is based on the FAFSA.
- Academic Advisor
- Add/Drop
- AIS (Applicant Information System)
- CL (Community Leader)
- Cost of Attendance
- Counseling
- Course Support
- Credit-Bearing
- Expected Family Contribution
- Faculty
- FAFSA
- Full-Time Enrollment
- GPR
- Graduate
- Grants
- Living Learning Community
- Part-Time Enrollment
- Peer Mentor
- Professor
- Q-Drop
- SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress)
- Scholarships
- TA (Teaching Assistant)
- TASFA
- Undergraduate
- Withdrawal
How to support your first-generation student
As a family member, sibling, friend or professor you may be unsure of the support your first-generation student is needing as they start and continue their journey through college. Below are a few tips to help you in supporting the first-generation students you may know:
- Offer words of engagement regularly. College brings not only academic stress, but the stress of becoming an individual. As a first-generation student, this can be added to the pressure of succeeding for not only themselves, but their family as being the first to make this journey to and through college.
- Pursuing higher education does not mean that students will lose the values they were raised with. In fact, these values will help them persist towards their personal and professional goals.
- Remind your F1RST student that they belong. A strong sense of belonging in the greater campus community and in their home communities will positively impact their academic performance.
- Your student may not be able to come home every weekend if they are living on campus. This is the case even if home is 5 or 10 miles away. If the student is living at home, they may not have the same amount of time to devote to family responsibilities as they did before. This does not mean they value you less!
- Learn about the college process and what to expect. By learning about your F1RST student’s degree plan and campus resources, you will be able to become more familiar with what your student is experiencing.
- Be patient with yourselves and one another. This is a learning experience for everyone (both you and your student) -- you will all be learning about this transition process together.