Two Modalities, One Focus: First-gen Success at SNHU

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a leader in online education, serving a vast virtual student body of over 200,000. In addition, SNHU also offers a beautiful, traditional New England campus that is home to 2,800 undergraduate students. Despite our global reach, a crucial challenge emerged upon examining the pride and challenges that our first-generation students experience, this prompted the institution toward identifying and supporting our first-generation college students across both online and traditional modalities.

Unifying and Supporting First-Gen Students

Our initial challenge arose from the fact that although we could readily identify first-generation students on our campus due to its smaller size, we lacked a systematic method for collecting first-gen information from the hundreds of thousands of applicants processed by SNHU Admissions annually. While we knew that approximately 30% of our on-campus population identified as first-gen, obtaining similar data from our vast applicant pool remained elusive. Nonetheless, available data indicates that approximately 40% of all SNHU students, whether attending in person or online, are first-generation.

While the first step is better identifying our first-gen students, we also recognized the absence of a streamlined approach to first-gen support – acknowledging that there is no single person or office responsible for this work, an opportunity for collaboration became apparent.

In response, we formed a cross functional group of advocates known as the First-Gen Workgroup with representatives from Campus, Admissions, Career Services, First-year Experience, General Education, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This cross functional team meets monthly to assess current structures and create programming for first-gen learners. The First-gen Workgroup was established with a primary focus on enhancing the support, focus and experiences of first-generation students.

First-gen on campus

On campus, a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation enabled SNHU to implement a comprehensive range of initiatives, including:

• Monthly faculty and staff workshops

• The Penmen First Scholars program, which pairs first-gen students with upper-class student mentors

• Engaging Learning Communities

• Pre-matriculation programs

• Workshops and support services for families

• Individual coaching for students

SNHU on-campus student, Silvonna S., celebrates SNHU’s commitment, highlighting the transformative impact it has had on her journey. “Navigating college as a first-gen student, I have dealt with continually working hard with tears and hard moments to attend both semesters of my freshman year as a student who does struggle financially, although now and then I have had the best support from SNHU and the team. But the bigger picture is that SNHU is finally recognizing the needs of first-gen students and taking action.” These narratives are among the many voices of students who see the benefit of these efforts and take pride in the institution’s commitment to acknowledging a vital part of their identities and experiences.

But the bigger picture is that SNHU is finally recognizing the needs of first-gen students and taking action.

First-gen Online

We launched a first-gen student resource group - a panel series to engage first-gen alum and staff at SNHU. In addition, there have been numerous collaborations with our communications department with videos that uplift and normalize first-generation narratives and branding collateral such as virtual backgrounds and a first-gen icon that can be used among faculty and staff. Remarkably, these endeavors have been accomplished without dedicated departments or budgets; instead, they have been fueled by a collective passion for driving first-gen success and meaningful change.

Associate Vice President for Academic Programs, Anthony Siciliano, speaks to this commitment by sharing, “The efforts put in place by SNHU to support first-generation students is to help them navigate their learning environment, realize that asking for help is not a weakness, take advantage of academic support resources, and connect with peers who are going through similar challenges.”

First-gen Leadership and Charge

SNHU leadership is open in sharing their personal stories to further reinforce the dedication to these efforts. Both President Dr. Paul LeBlanc and Provost Lisa Marsh Ryerson are proud first-gen graduates, embodying the transformative power of education. Our support extends beyond students to our dedicated employees, who benefit from resources like knowledge articles and internal campaigns aimed at fostering a culture of inclusivity.

SNHU's dedication to first-gen success transcends mere rhetoric; it is a testament to our unwavering commitment to equity, inclusion, and transformative education. Together, online and on-campus, we are empowering first-gen students to thrive and redefine what is possible.