Mission

To empower first-generation college students on the path to and through college.

What We Do

CSO creates tools and resources to help first-generation college students and their supporters—parents, counselors, and mentors—on the road to and through college. In partnership with 180+ colleges and universities, we also work to strengthen and build awareness of their campus efforts on behalf of first-generation college students.

In 2013, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's College Knowledge Challenge, we launched the I'm First project (www.imfirst.org), an online community celebrating and supporting first-generation college students. We’re collecting YouTube videos from first-generation college students and graduates from across the country—First Lady Michelle Obama among them—to inspire and offer advice to the next generation of students who will be first. I’m First is also a web application designed to help aspiring first-generation college students research and plan for college.

We also annually publish the I'm First Guide to College, a unique college guidebook designed to help first-generation college students make their college dreams a reality. Since 2008, we've sold and distributed over 22,000 books to schools and youth-serving organization across the U.S.

We were also recognized by Fastweb and the National Scholarship
Providers Association in 2012 as Scholarship Provider of the Year for our I'm First Scholarship. Since 2009, we have awarded $2,000 four-year renewable scholarships to first-generation college students who attend a partner college. Uniquely, the scholarship winners (now 32 presently enrolled in college) blog about their college experiences and give advice to aspiring first-generation college students who visit our website.