NASPA Online Learning Community

Log In
Designing & Scaling First-Generation Student Support

Designing & Scaling First-Generation Student Support

Includes a Live Web Event on 03/19/2026 at 1:00 PM (EDT)

First-generation college students comprise more than half of total undergraduate enrollment nationwide, yet their six-year outcomes continue to vary significantly from their continuing-generation peers. As institutions work to close these gaps, there is a growing need to move beyond siloed programs toward scaled, institution-wide approaches that support first-generation students through degree completion.

Drawing on findings from FirstGen Forward’s latest national landscape scan, this session will share how institutions are currently designing and scaling first-generation student support, with a focus on the nature and scope of support, as well as the programmatic and organizational structures that sustain and scale this work. Leveraging both student and practitioner perspectives, we will also explore opportunities for continuous improvement as institutions work to engage larger proportions of first-generation students across their campuses.

Findings shared in this session are based on survey responses from 571 individuals across 411 institutions and focus group insights from 73 individuals, including students, representing 65 institutions.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify key considerations for designing and delivering first-generation student supports across the student lifecycle
  2. Reflect on their institution’s first-generation support ecosystem, including the nature and scope of supports and the programmatic and organizational structures that sustain them
  3. Examine the implications of program-based approaches versus intentional universal design as institutions work to scale first-generation student supports, particularly within the current sociopolitical context

Melinda Mechur Karp, Ph.D.

Founder & Principal

Phase Two Advisory

Dr. Melinda Karp, Phase Two’s founder and project lead, has extensive research and thought-partnership experience in the areas of college access, student support, and completion strategies. She is a nationally-known expert on community colleges and strategies to support low-income, first-generation, minoritized, and otherwise under-served students in and out of the classroom. Dr. Karp has authored or co-authored over 70 articles, book chapters, and working papers and 35 practitioner-focused blogs, op-eds, and practical toolkits. She served as panel chair for the Institute for Education Science’s What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on Effective Advising for Postsecondary Students and a reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Postsecondary Success Recognition Program. She is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success and a coach for the NCII Rural Guided Pathways Project.  

Suzanne Lyons, Ph.D.

Senior Consultant

Phase Two Advisory

Dr. Suzanne Lyons is a senior consultant with Phase Two Advisory, supporting their national research and practitioner learning networks related to college access, success, and holistic student support. In addition, she is an educator and systems-level social worker, with over 20 years of experience working in K-12, public and private colleges, and national non-profits, including work with The Posse Foundation, TRIO, and Promise programs. As a first-generation, low-income college graduate, Dr. Lyons has dedicated her career to focusing on policies, programs, and multi-sector partnerships across the K-20 pipeline that support college access and success. Among other publications, Dr. Lyons is co-author (with Dr. Karp) on a chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Higher Education, “Advising the whole student: Current approaches to integrating academic, career, and personal support.”  Prior to joining Phase Two, she led private and federal grants geared toward systems-level change to improve student outcomes in high schools and at Hispanic-serving community colleges. Dr. Lyons holds her Bachelor’s in Psychology & Spanish from the University of Notre Dame, her Master’s in Social Workfrom the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Components visible upon registration.