First Generation Resources

1743 First Generation Welcome Reception held for new students in the West Lounge of the Perkins Student Center.

Featured Programs

U-First - Living Learning Community (LLC)

The goal of the U-FIRST LLC is to help you take part in forms of engaged social and learning experiences that will help you to benefit, as fully as possible, from your undergraduate experience. A team of committed faculty and staff will assist with fostering your college achievements by mentoring you to prepare to apply and participate in opportunities towards student success; such as, first-generation student services, student organizations, undergraduate research/internships, and service learning.

McNair Scholars Program

The McNair Scholars Program helps to prepare low-income, first-generation college students and students from groups that are underrepresented for doctoral study. McNair Scholars receive the opportunity to do extensive undergraduate research internships in their preferred area of interest.

RISE

RISE: Resources to Inspire Successful Engineers is a program that helps undergraduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to succeed within their programs at UD and in their career after graduation.

Student Organizations

We're First

We’re First is a organization that is inclusive to first generation students and to those interested in supporting first generation students at the University of Delaware. First generation means that they are the first in their family to attend college.

Student Support Services Program

Student Support Services Program (SSSP) seeks to enrich the student’s experience academically, culturally, and socially by providing student support through mentors, free tutoring, group and one-on-one, and other options to promote academic success.

NUCLEUS

NUCLEUS is an undergraduate support program for College of Arts and Sciences students that connects students with high impact activities that enhance their student experience.

Off Campus Resources

Though the University does not endorse any particular external resource or guarantee their services, we recognize that there are many resources in our surrounding communities and throughout our region/country that are interested in advocating for First Generation students.

Collegiate Directions (Maryland)

CDI is a non-profit organization committed to closing the education, achievement, and opportunity gap for low-income, primarily first-generation-to-college students. We provide comprehensive college counseling, targeted tutoring, test preparation, study skills, leadership training, and ongoing support, starting in tenth grade and continuing through successful college graduation.

Reach for College (Washington, D.C.)

Reach for College! was founded in 2005 by two experienced urban educators to help low-income high school students reach their dreams of pursuing postsecondary education. Working in public high schools and public charter schools, Reach for College! provides a curriculum specially developed for students who will often be the first in their families to pursue higher education, and we train teachers to use it. This research-based, structured curriculum has been proven to significantly increase the number of students going to college from high schools where the college-going rate is often low.

Philadelphia Futures (Pennsylvania)

Philadelphia Futures: a union of White-Williams Scholars and Philadelphia Futures provides Philadelphia’s low-income, first-generation-to-college students with the tools, resources and opportunities necessary for admission to and success in college.

First Generation College Bound, Inc. (Maryland)

First Generation College Bound (FGCB) is a grassroots organization based in Prince George’s County, Maryland, whose mission is to increase the participation of low- and moderate-income youth in higher education, particularly those whose parents do not have a bachelor’s degree.

Select National Associations & Organizations

America Needs You (ANY)

America Needs You fights for economic mobility for ambitious, first-generation college students.

College for Every Student (CFES) Brilliant Pathways

College For Every Student (CFES) Brilliant Pathways is a nonprofit organization committed to raising the academic aspirations and performance of underserved youth so that they can prepare for, gain access to, and succeed in college. CFES currently works with 200 rural and urban schools and districts in 24 states. Each school works with more than 50 CFES Scholars (low-income youth), most of whom would be first in their family to pursue higher education, to help them get to college and succeed there.

I’m First

I’m First is an online community for first-generation college students—and their supporters. Hear inspiring stories and share your own, discover colleges that care about first-gen students, find answers to your questions about college, and receive guidance on the road to and through college.

Center for First-Generation Student Success

The Center for First-generation Student Success: Driving higher education innovation and advocacy for first-generation student success. The Center is the premier source of evidence-based practices, professional development, and knowledge creation for the higher education community to advance the success of first-generation students.

First Scholars

First Scholars is dramatically increasing the graduation rate of first-generation college students through an innovative combination of a business mindset and research-based college success strategies. This approach is designed to have national impact on increasing the graduation rate of first-gen students and to empower them to build lives of self-awareness, personal success, and significance in their communities.

Select Internships & Scholarships

National Scholarships

Army Women’s Foundation Legacy Scholarship Program – Scholarship Resource
The First Generation Civil Rights Fellowship – Internship Opportunities
Fontana Transport Inc. Scholars
Gates Millennium Scholars Program
Gilman International Scholarship Program
TACTYC Transfer Accounting Student Scholarship – First Year Transfer Student Scholarship

University of Delaware Scholarships

Anderson Rosenfeld Diversity Scholarship
Harker Family Scholarship
Walter Stark Scholar Award