Selected by FirstGen Forward for the new class of Network Champions
COLUMBIA, SC (April 14, 2026) - FirstGen Forward recently welcomed the University of South Carolina into its newest class of FirstGen Forward Network Champions. Network Champion institutions are an exclusive group serving as national leaders in advancing first-generation efforts and contributing to an important knowledge base of evidence-based practices, leadership engagement, and scaling student supports.
"We are honored to be recognized as a FirstGen Forward Network Champion,” said Provost Mary Anne Fitzpatrick. “This distinction reflects our strong commitment to supporting first-generation students and building pathways that help them succeed from enrollment through graduation.”
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. The current Network includes 470 institutions of higher education, including two statewide systems, representing 47 states and the District of Columbia.
“As one of only 32 institutions in the country to have been recognized as Network Champions, the University of South Carolina has displayed a commitment to actively adopt the continuous improvement model and align their efforts with institutional priorities to guide first-generation students to completion,” said Dr. Martina A. Martin, vice president of FirstGen Forward. “Not only is USC doing excellent work to support their own first-generation students, but they continue to provide support and add to evidence-based practices that serve as a model for all those working to support this population in higher education.”
While moving to this phase is an important progression, Network Champions remain actively involved and committed to continuous improvement principles while emphasizing institution-focused strategic priorities to improve first-generation students’ experiences and completion rates.
“With 54% of current undergraduates identifying as first-generation, advancing first-generation student success has a life‑changing, multigenerational economic impact,” said Stephanie Bannister, President of FirstGen Forward. “Across the FirstGen Forward Network, we’re seeing that real transformation comes from intentional institutional systems—not isolated programs—that support first-generation students from enrollment through completion. Network Leader institutions are now achieving a 58% four-year graduation rate, the strongest results in five years and more than double the national average. Institutions like the University of South Carolina are showing what’s possible and setting a national standard for first-generation student success.”
To learn more about first-generation efforts at the University of South Carolina, visit www.sc.edu. To learn more about FirstGen Forward and the Network, visit firstgenforward.org.
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ABOUT FIRSTGEN FORWARD
FirstGen Forward is the center for first-generation student success– your premier
source for evidence-based approaches, data-informed strategies, professional development,
and research. Together, we are building community and belonging through the FirstGen
Forward Network, knowledge creation and evidence-based practices, and thought leadership
and advocacy, transforming higher education and the student success landscape guided
by a first-gen lens.