"Pursuing NASPA's FirstGen Forward designation was a natural step as Quinnipiac's first-generation student population continues to grow and their success remains a university priority,” said Cheri Brooks, assistant director of student success and leadership at Quinnipiac. “We want every first-generation student to feel seen, valued for the resilience they bring and supported by our faculty, staff and peers from the moment they arrive on campus.”

“While academic support is essential, it is a true sense of belonging that empowers students to persist, grow and fully engage in their college experience,” Brooks added. “Our commitment is to ensure that every first-generation student knows they belong at Quinnipiac and that we will do everything we can to help them thrive."

The FirstGen Forward Network provides a three-phase approach — Network Member, Network Leader and Network Champion — to scaling holistic first-generation student success by engaging and empowering higher education institutions to transform the first-generation student experience, advance academic and co-curricular outcomes and build more inclusive institutional structures. With the new class, the network includes more than 500 institutions of higher education, including two statewide systems, representing 48 states and the District of Columbia.

“We are excited to welcome Quinnipiac University to the FirstGen Forward Network,” said Martina A. Martin, vice president at FirstGen Forward. “Throughout the application process, Quinnipiac demonstrated a clear commitment to advancing success for first-generation students — backed by a willingness to align strategy, data and campus-wide efforts for long-term impact. Their leadership reflects a meaningful investment in creating the conditions where first-generation students can thrive.”

In this first phase of the network, selected institutions will participate in the FirstGen Forward Network Virtual Kick-off on August 20. As a network member, Quinnipiac’s faculty and staff are afforded opportunities to engage with peer institutions also working to create environments that improve the experiences and success of first-generation students and will participate in monthly calls, professional development, goal setting, blog development, annual reporting and more.

After successful completion of the network member phase, institutions may progress to the second phase, FirstGen Forward Network Leader, in which institutions receive an evidence-based and research-supported framework of actionable priorities supported through monthly workshops, diagnostic tools providing critical institutional insight, robust data-sharing as part of the national postsecondary data partnership and guidance of expert coaches along each step of the experience. Ultimately, all network institutions strive for national leadership as FirstGen Forward Network Champions.

“There is nothing quite like seeing a new generation of institutions step into this network with purpose and passion," said Stephanie J. Bannister, president of FirstGen Forward. "FirstGen Forward exists because we believe institutions are strongest when they learn alongside one another — sharing evidence-based practices, working through challenges together and advancing first-generation student success at scale. Quinnipiac is joining a community of practitioners doing exactly that, and the Class of 2026 represents a remarkable groundswell of energy and commitment. I know Quinnipiac will be a meaningful contributor to what we build together.”