“One of our goals is to let first-generation students know they are not alone,” said Thompson, an academic advisor at Sauk Valley Community College (SVCC) Student Support Services who works with first-generation students. “Often they are not familiar with terms such as office hours for instructors.”
First-generation students actually make up most of the college population. According to College Help Guide (collegehelpguide.com), a portal where students can find help, 56 percent of the students going to college are first in their family to attend college. However, only 24 percent earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.
“First-generation students don’t always understand credit hours or how many you should take,” said Stephanie Jacobs, SVCC’s Student Support Services project director.
SVCC’s Student Support Services has a wall covered with photos of students who are going through the program. The school currently has 150 students registered in the first-generation program. It can handle up to 200.
“I was working as a summer camp counselor when I hit the glass ceiling,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t become the camp director without a degree, so I quit and registered at Sauk.”
He later earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University. He returned to the summer camp and became its director. He later came to SVCC to be a counselor.
Some of the tips for first-generation students are: to arrive at class early, introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you, and mingle. They also include learning how to network and how to apply for scholarships.
“I think first-generation students at community college need help even more than those who go away for school,” Thompson said. “They are more on their own at a community college.”
A first-generation student attending and living at a four-year school will see other students head for the library to study after dinner. Or they will see how their roommate schedules his or her time.
For Jacobs, the reward is seeing students go on to a four-year college. She had two who had gone through the program return on the second day of the new school year.
“In 2024 we had a 26 percent graduation rate,” Thompson said about the program. “The state average for first-generation students at community colleges is 22 percent.”
The program has a 91 percent rate for students they counsel meeting academic standards, according to Jacobs.
“Many first-generation students are go-getters,” Jacobs said.
“They might be the first in their family to get an office job or buy a home,” said Thompson.
Since many first-generation students have no idea how to get through college, the Student Support Services must actively reach out to them. The counselors attend college orientations and Sauk Fest. The offices are on the first floor near the college’s western entrance.
Students can get help signing up for classes, choosing a major, finding scholarships, and figuring out ways to get around work and home life. They also provide counseling on how to deal with an unfriendly academic environment.
“Higher education is not friendly to students who don’t know the system,” Jacobs said. She will be the first in her family to get a doctoral degree.
For more information, contact student support services at 815-288-5511.
