First-Gen First: Education Design for the First-Gen College Student

So, what is it about first-gen students that makes it difficult for them to navigate through higher education?

First, let’s do a dive into who the first-generation college student is.

The phrase “first-gen” itself is often used to describe those students whose parents did not attend college or university and/or did not graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

Compared to continuing-generation students, first-gen college students are at a disadvantage even before transitioning from home to living on-campus. Prior to that, it should be acknowledged that the first-gen student meets their first hurdle in high school, at the college application process. Without a support system of individuals who underwent the process, there is no advice and no one to look up to for guidance. After acceptance, the student is torn between commuting and living on-campus. Some, but not all, first-gen students are managing a work life while studying and have family responsibilities they feel guilty shrugging off.

1/ Student Housing has evolved over the last few decades. The early 2000s saw a fad of extreme amenities like extravagant pools, rock climbing walls, and movie rooms. These efforts have since shifted to community spaces; fitness rooms; academic support spaces such as makerspaces or dance studio; meditation or yoga rooms; and the like- much more fitting to the upcoming Gen-Z student. Student Housing with the first-gen first mentality would still aim to include more than the traditional dorm programming. Studies show that first-gen students tend to use less of the resources available to them on campus compared to their continuing-gen counterparts.

One such example are Health services. The lower usage from first-gen students is due to a lack of awareness. Bringing spaces less often used to the forefront and making them more visible can help these students be familiar with the services their campus provides that no one told them about. Many first-gen students also may not be aware of the academic help services or academic advising services. It can be the task of designers to signal at underutilized services through master planning or innovative programming that can impact students and bring these services that are student-focused to the forefront in student-housing planning and/or design.

3/ Creating strong social and support networks, while keeping budget in mind is also key to the success of first-gen students. Designing, efficient bedroom and living layouts enables universities to reallocate that cost to community-centric spaces that enhance social wellness and boost the campus life experience for all students alike, without increasing the overall project cost. Community spaces are a need when it comes to designing with the “student-ready” or “first-gen first” mindset. The designer’s power is the ability to create spaces that encourage interaction. In the TED Talk by Amanda Burden, she discusses Paley Park, a pocket-park in New York City that is designed in an urban setting with minimal intervention; the space is fulfilled when it is used by its intended users and due to its location, it is. This idea of place-making is crucial when thinking about designing community spaces of any kind.

EXAMPLE 1//

University of St. Thomas Student Housing

In the metaphor of the city, first there are the households that each accommodate 8-10 students. Four of these household form the neighborhood with designated community spaces for each household pod. Two of the neighborhoods convene to create the district (or floor) with a central volume of space for all events. The spaces that connect two districts aid in creating this vertical city. In the design, the households serve as the most private community engagement areas and the central two-story community spaces acts as the most public.

As college students enter these spaces, they experience that vertical connectivity between floors which is crucial for each district (or floor) to allow students to convene and celebrate the end of midterms, rejoice on sporting wins, entertain one another, or simply be around others.