For Students

First Gen Bulls Initiatives

First Gen Celebration Day 2024

An earned degree can be transformative for every student, but it can be especially transformative for first-gen students as it drives social and economic mobility and can help build generational wealth.

This is why USF is a proud member of the FirstGen Forward Network, a national collective dedicated to first-generation student success.

USF proudly enrolls more than 4,000 of our undergraduate students who are the first in their families to earn a baccalaureate degree. Of those, more than 500 enroll at the St. Petersburg campus.

First-Generation Day is celebrated annually on November 8 to commemorate the signing of the Higher Education Act (“HEA”) of 1965 by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. This year, we celebrate First-Gen students for an entire week!

First-Gen Celebration Week events are open to all students at all campuses, a specific list of events held online or at the St. Petersburg campus are listed below: