Providing a pathway to success for first-generation college students is one of Wichita State University’s highest priorities and a success story that everyone can be proud of.

First-generation students are identified as those whose parents have not earned a bachelor’s degree. Since 2006, Wichita State’s enrollment and retention efforts have resulted in a 55 percent increase in first-generation Shockers.

In fall 2018, about 45 percent of degree-seeking undergraduate students at Wichita State were first-generation students.

“First-generation students make up a large percentage of our student body,” says LaWanda Holt-Fields, director of the TRIO – McNair Scholars Program at WSU. “We want to see them thrive while in college so that they are prepared to move into their careers. The success of Wichita State students is the success of Wichita State.”