Project FirstGen Philippines

You wouldn’t be alone if this is the first time you read about the term FirstGen student. While there are thousands of FirstGen students in the Philippines, the phenomenon has not received the attention it deserves given its crucial relevance in working towards higher education equity.

To keep it simple, a FirstGen student is the first in their family to pursue higher education. There are a variety of definitions out there aiming at being as precise as possible. Some include the minimum duration the student’s parents must have studied or if they dropped out of university along the way. Here at Project FirstGen Philippines we want to keep the definition as simple and actionable as possible to extend our support to those that can benefit the most from it.

We recognize that being a FirstGen student is first and foremost an indication of having a social background that was not defined by an academic culture. By that, we understand that FirstGen students generally are less familiar with the social environment of higher education institutions than students who grew up in an academic household.

Meet Maria

When researchers speak about access to universities not being fairly distributed, they usually refer to a lack of equity in higher education. While equality refers to everyone having equal access to the same support mechanisms in their university, equity means that each student receives the support they need given their background. In other words, an equitable higher education system provides specific support mechanisms taking into account the student’s individual needs. Ultimately, this increases access to higher education of those students that are challenged the most during their educational journey.

This poses the question: If FirstGen students are mostly challenged by high tuition fees, wouldn’t scholarships solve that challenge? Let us clarify a bit more. When we write about a student’s background, we usually don’t only refer to their economic circumstances but also their social ones. Both dimensions are very much interlinked since educated parents are more likely to have higher incomes. However, supporting FirstGen students financially by providing scholarships does not automatically lead to them having a successful and fulfilling educational journey. They might still not speak the “academic language”, they might still not feel like they belong to the “academic environment”, and they might encounter unique internal and external conflicts.

To illustrate this, let’s think about Maria, who just finished high school and is preparing to apply to university. She is sharp and surrounded by people that cheer her on. Her parents, her neighbors, her former teachers are all proud of her. She even receives full financial support. And yet, as she sits down to research the application process, something feels off. The guides she finds seem written in a language she is not familiar with. She reaches out to her parents, but they have not gone through this process before and don’t know anyone either who has. She feels alone and demotivated thinking: “Is it even worth it to start this journey? Is it only me who is challenged by all of this?”.

Does any of this sound familiar? Have you ever felt that the information available to you assumed a starting point you didn’t have? Have you found yourself spending energy just to decode the environment, before you could even begin to engage with it? Have you felt both determined to be there and quietly unsure whether you truly belonged?

If so, you are not alone. This experience is common for FirstGen students.

Equitable Access is more than just Money

Maria’s story is one that many FirstGen students can relate to. Challenges don’t stop after enrollment either, they continue throughout their entire educational journey. The point of this story is this: being able to afford university does not automatically lead to equitable access to higher education. The social dimension of being a FirstGen student is full of challenges, too, reaching from external factors (lack of access to learning materials and experience) to internal ones (feelings of not belonging and loneliness).

Even though Maria would have had the funding for attending her local university, access to knowledge, language, and culture of the higher education environment did not come natural to her, which lead to self-doubt and isolation. Yes, being a FirstGen student is often related to a lack of funding but even if there would be an equal financial playing field, the social and cultural barriers would remain just as real. These are the challenges that money alone can’t fix.

Have a look at the Roadmap 2026 of Project FirstGen Philippines to learn more about our upcoming plans. We are also excited to hear from you!