About Us
First Graduate is an effective college access program that currently serves more than 200 San Francisco-based students who strive to finish high school and be the first in their families to graduate from college.
We work exclusively with aspiring first-generation students because there continues to be a tremendous need for college access and completion services for students who come from non-college educated families.
First Graduate’s unique high-touch, long-term approach directly addresses the needs of first-generation students. We make a 10-year commitment to students starting the summer before seventh grade through the completion of college. The program enrolls 25-30 rising seventh graders annually and completed its first 10-year pipeline in the spring of 2010 with the addition of our tenth class, recruited from five San Francisco public middle schools. In the spring of 2011 we will congratulate our first college graduating class.
First Graduate’s long-term program model provides students with a comprehensive array of services, including academic instruction, tutoring and support, one-on-one mentoring, high school choice counseling, college counseling, career exploration, and family engagement, all organized under an effective case management system that extends through graduation from college.
To date, 100% of students in our first three classes has graduated from high school and is attending either a two-year or four-year college, including a range of schools across the nation, from the University of San Francisco to Harvard University.
First Graduate's bilingual, multicultural staff reflects the largely Latino and African American communities we serve. Several program staff members were the first in their families to go to college.
