Toward a Culture of First-Generation Student Success: An Analysis of Mission Statements From First-gen Forward Institutions

Abstract

Institutions of higher education continue to seek ways to engage first-generation students. This content analysis of the 157 mission statements of First-gen Forward Institutions explores how the articulation of institutional priorities can signal or promote a success-oriented culture and inform campus-wide approaches to first-generation student success. We identify four predominant themes--student learning experiences; community-serving; diversity and inclusion; and access and affordability--that may help guide unified, mission-centric efforts to develop resources and opportunities that resist deficit-based assumptions about first-generation students and that reflect an institutional commitment to student success.