Student Success, TRIO to host first-generation student celebration

Oct. 28, 2022 | By Kourtnie Stenwall, communication assistant

Northwest Missouri State University’s admissions and student success unit is partnering with TRIO to host a campus-wide celebration of first-generation students Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is 2 to 4 p.m. in the J.W. Jones Student Union Living Room. Snacks and beverages will be provided. Attendees will have chances to win gift baskets, a Nintendo Switch and a $250 scholarship.

“We are excited for the opportunity to come together campus-wide and celebrate our first-generation students,” Dr. Allison Hoffmann, Northwest’s assistant vice president of admissions and student success, said. “First-generation student enrollment and first-generation student retention, persistence and completion are important to the institution. We continue to identify and pursue opportunities to ensure first-generation students are succeeding at the same rate as students that do not report as first-generation. “

As part of Northwest’s focus on first-generation students, the University Seminar program offers four sections this fall for new students who self-identify as first-generation. The sections are taught by first-generation faculty and staff and support the successful transition and mentorship of first-generation students.

A Northwest student signs a banner celebrating first-generation college students during a previous First-Generation College Celebration at the University. (Northwest Missouri State University photo)

At Northwest, 37 percent of Northwest students are first-generation students, and 38 percent of the University’s first-time freshmen this fall identify as first-generation college students. Students are first-generation college students if their parents or legal guardians did not graduate from a four-year college or university.

Northwest’s celebration coincides with a nationwide initiative sponsored by the Council for Opportunity for Education and the Center for First-Generation Student Success to recognize first-generation students. According to the center, one in three undergraduates – nearly 5 million students – identify as first-generation students.

Their sixth annual First-Generation College Celebration marks the 57th anniversary of the signing of the 1965 Higher Education Act, which has helped millions of people become the first members of their families to earn college degrees. To learn more, visit https://firstgen.naspa.org/.