First-Generation Institute
Advancing first-generation success in higher education.
The First-Generation Institute is a national hub dedicated to advancing access, opportunity, and agency for first-generation students. Our focus is providing faculty, student affairs professionals and scholars with evidence based tools to dismantle systemic barriers in higher education.
Forwarding an asset based narrative of first-generation individuals in higher education, we foster inclusive environments built on strong collaboration and leadership. Through community-engaged research and strategic partnerships, we empower faculty and student affairs professionals by delivering tailored programming, providing data-driven strategies for first-gen success, and engaging them in communities of practice. These efforts help practitioners understand the first-gen experience of navigating academia while equipping institutions with the tools to transform their systems for the better.
What we do
The First-Generation Institute is comprised of numerous activity areas
Our core areas of work include academic engagement, belonging, mentorship, institutional engagement, and leadership development for first-generation students and professionals. We focus on:
- Supporting students, faculty, and student affairs professionals through research-based best practices and programs that build career readiness and academic success.
- Strengthening institutional systems, including faculty and staff development, to better support first-generation learners.
- Addressing the hidden curriculum through communities of practice and tailored training that make higher education more navigable for those new to its norms and expectations.
- Promoting long-term systemic improvements through institutional partnerships and scalable innovation.
About us: Mission, vision, and values
Founded on the belief that first-generation voices strengthen and transform higher education, the First-Gen Institute brings together research, practice, and partnerships to expand opportunity. Grounded in our mission, vision, values, and history, we continue to champion first-gen students, professionals, and institutions nationwide.
Mission
To advance research into translatable practices that foster success and thriving for first-generation students by providing faculty, student affairs professionals and scholars with evidence based tools to dismantle systemic barriers in higher education.
Vision
We envision a future where higher education is designed to ensure that first-generation students and professionals flourish in their learning, their professional pursuits, and their sense of belonging and engagement in academia and beyond.
History
The First-Generation Institute was founded in 2017 with support from the College of Education and Human Development Dean’s Office Big Idea Grant at the University of Minnesota. Conceived by Rashné Jehangir, the Institute was created as a space where scholar-practitioners, graduate students, and higher education professionals could reimagine how institutions support and serve first-generation college students. With support from CEHD’s Big Idea Grant, the inaugural First-Gen Institute conference was held in 2018 and centered on the University of Minnesota’s institutional commitment to advancing the success of first-generation college students.
Since its founding, the First-Gen Institute has continued to convene conferences, keynote speakers, and panel discussions that examine critical issues impacting the experiences and success of first-generation students in higher education. These gatherings have created opportunities for collaboration, research-sharing, and the development of more equitable and student-centered practices across institutions.
In 2019, the College of Education and Human Development, with the leadership of Dr. Rashné Jehangir as Faculty Director of the First-Gen Institute, achieved a significant institutional milestone by being named part of NASPA’s inaugural cohort of First-Gen Forward Institutions. This designation recognized CEHD’s leadership and commitment to advancing the academic success and institutional support of first-generation college students in postsecondary education.
Today, this history serves as the foundation for the First-Gen Institute’s role as a national hub for advancing first-generation student success. Building on this legacy, the Institute equips faculty, staff, and student affairs professionals with evidence-based strategies, collaborative partnerships, and actionable tools designed to dismantle systemic barriers and transform higher education for first-generation students across the University of Minnesota, throughout the state, and beyond.
Programs & initiatives
Fostering Collaboration and Professional Development: Communities of Practice
Active, ongoing networks designed to provide participants with a sustained space for mentorship, continuous professional development, and meaningful peer connections year-round.
Featuring: Community of Practice for First-Generation Mid-Level Career Professionals in Higher Education
Often, first-generation individuals face unique challenges in navigating their careers, particularly when they reach the mid-level stage, where support structures become less available and accessible. Traditional mentoring and professional development models tend to focus on entry-level staff or senior leaders, leaving mid-level professionals without the tailored guidance they need to thrive.
This community is designed to provide a supportive, collaborative space where first-generation student affairs professionals can share experiences, discuss strategies for professional growth, and build the network and resources essential to advancing in their careers.
By focusing on this often-overlooked group, we aim to foster an environment of empowerment and intentional development that acknowledges the distinct challenges and strengths of first-generation professionals in the field.
Applications open for UMN staff once a year in late fall.
Fueling Innovation: UMN Microgrants & Funding
Microgrants are an opportunity for members of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus community to be awarded funding to support and advocate for the success and persistence of undergraduate and graduate first-generation students.
As an integral part of the Institute’s mission, these microgrants provide funding and resources necessary for individuals or groups (i.e., departments, collegiate units, officially registered student groups, etc.) to collaborate on projects that enhance the campus climate for first-generation students.
Past Award Project Examples
- Mechanical Engineering First Generation & Graduate School Persistence Project
- Networking Mixers & Career Connections: Building Social Capital for CEHD First Gen Students
- Promoting First Generation Student Participation in Learning Aboard
Connecting Leaders: First-Gen Institute Events
Our events bring together faculty, staff, and students to bridge the gap between research and practice. Through expert keynotes and collaborative panels, we define the actionable strategies that drive first-generation success across the University. Below is a sample of past keynotes and events:
- 2025 | “The Future of First-Gen Students: Why College Matters Now More Than Ever” featuring Carlos Mariani Rosa, Wendy Robinson, Ph.D., Mohamed Sallam, Ph.D., Sarah Whitley, Ph.D., and Pakou Yang, Ph.D.
- 2024 | “Part of Your World?: Rethinking Belonging for First-Generation+ Institutional Actors in Higher Education” featuring Jason K. Wallace, Ph.D.
- 2023 | “Transforming Institutions, Empowering Futures: Leveraging First-Gen Identity for First-Gen Students and Professionals” featuring Angela E. Batista, Ed.D.
- 2022 | “At the Intersections of First-Gen Identity and Structural Change!” featuring T. Mark Montoya, Ph.D.
- 2021 | “(In)Visible: First-Gen College Students Getting To and Through Graduate School” featuring Anthony Albecker, Noro Andriamanalina, Ph.D., Cori-Bazemore James, Ph.D., Rashné Jehangir, Ph.D., Terra Molengraff, Jessica Thompson
- 2021 | “Unpacking Inequities through an Intersectional Lens” featuring Sonja Ardoin, Ph.D. and becky martinez, Ph.D.
- 2020 | “Data Dive: What Covid Context Tells Us about the First-Generation Student Experience” featuring Peter Radcliffe, Ph.D., Nicola Alexander. Ph.D., Nicole Shopbell, and Sarah Ihrig
- 2019 | “As I See It: First-Generation College Students & Photo Narratives” featuring Rashné Jehangir, Ph.D., and Kelly Collins
- 2018 | “Making an Institutional Commitment” featuring Courtney Bell, Carlos Mariani Rosa, Minerva Muñoz, Brian Burnett, Michael Rodriguez, Ph.D., and La’Tonya Reese-Miles, Ph.D.
Resources & tools
A Growing Library of First-Gen Resources
We are actively developing a comprehensive suite of tools, research, and guides to support our community. Here is a look at the resources currently available and in development:
For Educators & Institutions:
- UMN First-Gen Primers | Practical and actionable research-backed strategies for enhancing first-gen success, designed with faculty and student affairs professionals in mind.
- 2024-2025 First-Gen Institute Accomplishments | A summary of the impact of the First-Gen Institute at the University of Minnesota, state, and national level.
- Decoding the Academy: A roadmap for first-generation college students through graduate education | A digital book authored by First-Gen Institute faculty, staff, and graduate students that analyzes the current landscape of the first-generation graduate student experience and provides recommendations for change for anyone seeking to improve support for these students.
- FirstGen Forward | A national leader driving first-generation student success, equipping the higher education community with evidence-based approaches, data-informed strategies, professional development, and research.
- Journal of First-Generation Student Success | The first academic peer-reviewed journal dedicated to first-generation student success.
For Students:
UMN First-Generation Student Success Center: A dedicated center connecting first-gen students to the resources they need to thrive. This center bridges gaps in campus support and cultivates an inclusive, welcoming environment where students are seen, heard, and valued.
Engagement opportunities
Change happens when we work together. The First-Gen Institute collaborates with educators, practitioners, institutions, and organizations to expand opportunities and support for first-generation students. Whether through joint initiatives or customized workshops, we create spaces for growth, learning, and systemic transformation.
- Collaborate with Us: Partner with the First-Gen Institute on research projects, program design, or institutional initiatives that expand access and success for first-generation students and professionals.
- Request a Training: Bring our expertise to your department or organization through customized workshops. We offer evidence-based strategies and practical tools that help faculty, staff, and administrators better support first-gen learners.
Past Examples:
- Conducted training with the University of Minnesota School of Journalism to empower instructors with strategic first-gen tools.
- Led two workshops at UW–Stout which oriented the audience to the lived experiences of first-gen students and provided steps to improve classroom accessibility.
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Delivered a keynote at NYU’s Wasserman Center, initiating conversations about how graduate programs can be reimagined to better support first-gen students as they navigate elite and too often exclusive academic spaces.
If you are interested in collaborating, reach out to fginstitute@umn.edu.
Staff and affiliates
Staff
Rashné Jehangir, PhD
Rashné Jehangir, PhD is a learner, a scholar- practitioner and equal opportunity educator. She holds degrees from Lawrence University and two graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota where she is Professor of Higher Education and the Beck Chair of Ideas in the College of Education and Human Development. She was recently named the Inaugural Dean of Education Opportunity Programs at her college. She was also the inaugural founding co-editor of the Journal of First-generation Student Success and now serves the journal on strategic projects as Editor Emeriti.
She is the founding Director of the First-Gen Institute where her team and the community of first-gen advocates translate research into systemic change for first-generation students, faculty and staff.
She spent the first decade of her career in student affairs and has strong roots in the federally funded TRIO SSS and McNair Scholars Programs which provided fertile ground for her research to forward asset-based strategies to support first-generation college students and their communities. Her research interests focus on equity and access with specific attention to the confluence of structural constraints in the academy that impact the experience of poor and working class, refugee and immigrant students, and students of color many of whom are first in their family to go to college. Her research employs community-engaged methods including photo voice as well as NSF funded study focused on mentoring for underrepresented students in STEM fields. Her scholarship is featured in several journals including Journal of College Student Development, Innovative Higher Education, Urban Education and the Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Her first book Higher Education and First-Generation College Students: Cultivating Community, Voice and Place for the New Majority was published by Palgrave Macmillan. Her latest open-access book co-authored with 3 first-generation graduate scholars is Decoding the Academy: A Roadmap for First-generation College Students Through Graduate Education.
Zer Vang, MSW
Zer Vang currently serves as the Associate Director of the FGI and a PhD candidate in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, focusing on the social and cultural factors that influence first-gen Hmong women college student’s identity development. As a first-gen student and professional, she has nearly twenty years of professional experience in a variety of roles across higher education institutions and non-profit organizations including serving as the Director of Student Recruitment at the University of St. Thomas, Director of MSW Admissions and Alumni Relations at the UMN, Student Services Director at Breakthrough Minneapolis, and Program Coordinator at College Possible where she also served as a past board member. She has also served as an instructor for First Year Experience and Social Work courses.
Zer is currently serving on the Hnub Tshiab (new day): Hmong Women Achieving Together and Northstar Education Finance board and has previously served on a number of committees and boards at the University of Minnesota, including the CEHD Alumni Society (VP and president), Alumni Association Belonging and Inclusion Committee, and the Cultural Health Committee. Zer is a proud University of Minnesota 2x alumni (Family Social Science and Social Work), educator and advocate, and mother-scholar and practitioner.
Kayla Cory, MA
Kayla Cory, MA | Digital Engagement Lead
Faculty affiliates
Amy Collins, PhD | Assistant Professor and Director First-Year Seminar, Center for Learning Innovation, University of Minnesota—Rochester
Graduate students
Past Graduate Research Assistants
- Fall 2025–Spring 2026 | Yesenia Mendoza Muller, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
- Fall 2024–Summer 2025 | Richard Roman, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
- Fall 2023 | Cathy Ngo, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
- Fall 2023–Summer 2025 | Zer Vang, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
- Fall 2019–Spring 2023 | Terra Molengraff, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
- Fall 2022–Spring 2024 | Tai Do, PhD Student | Department of Educational Psychology
- Fall 2017–Spring 2020 | Kelly Collins, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
- Fall 2018, Fall 2022–2023 | Jessica Thompson-Dixon, PhD Student | Department of Organization Leadership, Policy & Development—Higher Education
Community partners
- Kelly Collins, PhD | Director of the Equity & Diversity Education Program, University of Minnesota Office for Equity & Diversity
- Terra Molengraff, PhD | Program Director of First-Generation Initiatives, University of Michigan
- Tai Do, PhD | Student Pathways Analyst, Minnesota Department of Education
Organizational affiliates
Sova Solutions, Sarah Whitely, PhD | Principal, https://sova.org/
Contact us
Have questions or want to get involved? Reach out to our team at fginstitute@umn.edu for more information.