First-Generation Families

First-generation families

Your Husky is making history in your family. They’re the first to navigate FERPA forms, financial aid portals, residence-hall life, and the dozens of other systems that make up an American four-year university. This page is the family-side companion to that journey: where to start, who has answers, and how to walk it with them.

Campus contacts First-Gen Huskies Six tips Questions Nov. 8

Where you fit, as a first-gen family

First-gen students come from families where neither parent or guardian has a four-year degree from a U.S. college or university. Your Husky is doing something new for your family, and the systems they’re learning to navigate (advising, financial aid, FERPA, residence-hall life) may also be new to you. That’s normal. UW is committed to walking this with both of you.

A good place to start: the UW Parent & Family Guide, available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean. Reach out anytime: uwparent@uw.edu.

Campus contacts

The offices that handle most of what first-gen families need.

First-Gen Huskies

The student-facing home for mentorship, advising, success coaching, scholarship guidance, and community.

First-Gen Huskies

Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity

Identity-based advising, the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, and Leadership Without Borders for undocumented students.

OMA&D

Family Orientation

Open to parents, partners, grandparents, and other family. Built to help you collect the info to support your student.

Husky Promise

Guarantees that financial need will not stand in the way of a UW degree for eligible Washington state students.

Husky Promise

Another path to belonging

Fraternity & Sorority Life

One path many first-gen Huskies use to build belonging on a big campus. With four governing councils and 60+ chapters, your student can find peers who share similar experiences, plus mentorship, academic support, and leadership opportunities inside and outside the classroom.

Visit Fraternity & Sorority Life

First-Gen Huskies is the home base

Mentorship, advising, success coaching, events, scholarship guidance, and student stories live at firstgen.uw.edu. Send your Husky there for the programs that match this stage of their journey, and bookmark this page for what families need.

Visit First-Gen Huskies

Six tips just for first-gen families

Adapted from the UW First-Gen Huskies family guidance, written by the team that supports your student day to day.

1. Review the First-Year Planning Guide together

It surfaces the resources and timelines that set up academic success in year one.

2. Walk through Housing and Dining accounts

If your student will live on campus, understanding the application process helps you support them through the steps.

3. Document every important conversation

Encourage your student to make copies of all paperwork and to write down the name, department, date, and feedback every time they contact a UW unit with a question.

4. Expect interests and goals to shift

As your student finds their academic stride, the destination of the college journey may not match the starting picture. That’s a feature of college, not a problem.

5. Be mindful about family time

Your Husky may not have the same time to devote to family responsibilities as before. Their academic experience is much bigger than high school or community college.

6. Have patience with yourselves and one another

This is a new experience for everyone in your family. You’re all learning the transition together.

Common first-gen family questions

Questions specific to first-gen families. For broader topics, visit our Common Questions page.

How do I support my Husky without taking over?

Encourage your student to ask their professors questions, schedule advising appointments, and share their first-gen status with their advisers and TAs. Your role shifts from solving to coaching: listen first, ask what solutions they’ve already considered, and let them practice navigating UW. The Talk With Your Husky page has stage-by-stage conversation prompts.

How can our family afford UW?

Student Financial Aid covers scholarships, grants, and emergency funds, with one-on-one counselor appointments. For Washington state students, Husky Promise guarantees that financial need will not stand in the way of a UW degree. Family-access forms for billing live on the Forms, Releases & Accounts page.

What does first-gen support look like at each UW campus?

UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, and Seattle each have their own offerings. See the campus-by-campus overview. Your student can also explore programs and stories at First-Gen Huskies.

My family or my student is undocumented. What does that mean at UW?

Leadership Without Borders (LWB) was created with undocumented students in mind. It serves as a launch pad for student leadership, builds community, and connects students and families with resources, services, and trusted referrals.

My Husky feels like they don’t fit in. How do I help?

First-gen students often carry the unspoken weight of representing their family. The Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center and the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity offer advising, community, and identity-based programs. Encourage your student to find one community to belong to in their first quarter, then a second by spring. Belonging is built, not given.

Save the date

National First-Generation College Celebration: Nov. 8

A day to celebrate first-gen students, faculty, and staff. As a family, you might call your Husky, share what you’re proud of, or read stories from UW students who are first in their family to attend college.

First-Gen Day at UW

Keep in touch with PFP

The Parent Insider newsletter publishes seasonal essentials, deadlines, and resources to share with your Husky. We’re walking this with you. Questions? uwparent@uw.edu.