SFA awarded $1.3M grant to expand support for first-generation students

SFA's Generation Jacks program received a boost of $1.36 million after being awarded a five-year TRIO Student Support Services grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant will increase the capacity of the program by 150%. Pictured is the 2025-26 GenJacks cohort.

Stephen F. Austin State University has been awarded a five-year, $1.36 million federal TRIO Student Support Services grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand Generation Jacks, SFA's first-generation student success program housed within the Cole Student Success Center.

Through the TRIO SSS grant, SFA's GenJacks program capacity will increase from about 130 students to more than 300 annually - an increase of more than 150%.

The grant marks SFA's first TRIO program and the first TRIO SSS program in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Region 5, which includes SFA, Lamar University, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State Colleges in Orange and Port Arthur, and Angelina College.

"GenJacks has been helping first-generation Lumberjacks learn, lead, serve and succeed for more than a decade," said Dr. Marc Guidry, associate provost. "This grant will allow us to scale a proven model of student success so that many more of our first-generation students can benefit from the academic, personal and career support that the program provides. It's a transformational moment for SFA and our region."

Founded in 2014 by Guidry and Dr. Michael Walker, professor of psychology, GenJacks provides an extended learning community designed to help first-generation students thrive throughout their first two years at SFA and beyond. The program combines specialized coursework, faculty and staff success coaching, mentoring, and leadership development to help students navigate college life and prepare for professional success.

The TRIO SSS grant was co-authored by Guidry and Megan Weatherly, executive director of the Lumberjack Learning Commons. Contributors to the grant include Raquel Skidmore, director of the Cole Student Success Center; Dr. Forest Lane, dean, Office of Research and Graduate Studies; Dr. Heather Olson Beal, professor of education studies; and Amy Camacho, assistant director of analysis and projects with the Office of Strategic Analytics and Institutional Research.

Impact and implementation

This grant will greatly impact SFA's student body. Roughly 40% of SFA's graduates each year are first-generation students. Many of these students also qualify as low-income, defined as being eligible for a Pell Grant. The percentage of Pell Grant-eligible undergraduates at SFA exceeds both state and national averages as well as those of peer institutions.

"We know from national and institutional data that low-income, first-generation students face barriers to persistence and graduation," Weatherly said. "This grant gives us the resources to address those challenges directly and further SFA's mission as a regional comprehensive university dedicated to access and student success."

First-year GenJacks students are grouped in cohorts to take student success courses together, participate in a Summer Leadership Academy, receive individualized coaching and mentoring, and engage in a sophomore-level practicum that connects their studies to career or graduate school goals. The program's impact is evident: GenJacks participants have a 56% six-year graduation rate, compared to 48% for first-generation students overall at SFA.

Under the leadership of Skidmore, the Cole Student Success Center has served as the hub of the GenJacks program. The center will guide the implementation of the grant into its daily operations while fostering collaboration across campus.

The grant funds allow the addition of a program director and two coordinators to the GenJacks team. The program is coordinated by Abby Coker, who will continue to play an integral role in GenJacks.

"The Cole Student Success Center is honored to continue leading the GenJacks program," Skidmore said. "Our team is deeply committed to supporting first-generation students as they develop the skills, confidence and community connections that lead to long-term success. This grant allows us to broaden that impact and serve even more students across campus."

The TRIO SSS grant will fund GenJacks' expansion through 2030.

To learn more about first-generation student support at SFA, visit sfasu.edu/genjacks.