Campus Community

With nearly 26,000 students and 18,000 faculty and staff (before you include the Health System), the University of Pennsylvania is a vast community – many of whom are or will be the first in their families to receive a bachelors’ degree and beyond.

Penn First Plus Ambassadors

P1P Ambassador Training was created to further enhance faculty and staff knowledge and skills on topics that have direct impact on first-generation and/or lower-income students’ college transition, academic success, and sense of belonging on campus. The faculty and staff listed below have completed this four-hour experience and are open to having discussions about and supporting you through the experience of being the first person in your family to pursue a college degree and/or be from a lower-income background.

[List forthcoming.]

Student Organizations

Penn First
Organization for students who are first-generation and/or from lower-income backgrounds, providing social, academic, and professional development events.
FGLIQ
Organization for queer students who are first-generation and/or from lower-income backgrounds.
FLITE (FGLI in Tech and Engineering)
Promotes community and access for first-generation and/or lower-income student interested in technology and engineering.
FGLI Dean’s Advisory Board at the College
Advises the Undergraduate Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences on matters affecting FGLI students.
Wharton FGLI
Promotes community for first generation and/or lower income students in the Wharton school through acknowledgement, visibility, advocacy, and connection
Seven|Eight
Organization for students who are both queer and APIA (Asian Pacific Islander American).
The Collective Success Network
Student organization promoting professional and career development opportunities for the first-generation and/or lower-income community.
Questbridge Scholars
The on-campus community for students who arrived at Penn through the Questbridge Match program.
FGLI International
Organization for international students who are first-generation and/or from lower-income backgrounds. The link is directly to their GroupMe, which is being used for all communications.

Penn Common Cents
Penn’s first undergrad personal finance club seeking to mend the financial literacy knowledge gap seen across the U.S. We are a national organization headquartered at Penn with a branch at NYU holding innovative events that make personal finance interesting and inclusive for all.

Campus Offices

PennKIPP
Provides supplemental academic advising and programming for students who enrolled at Penn from a KIPP charter school.
La Casa Latina
Penn’s community center for Latinx students.
Makuu Black Cultural Center
Penn’s community center for Black students.
Pan-Asian American Community House
Penn’s community center for South Asian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander students.
LGBT Center
Penn’s community center for students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and/or queer, etc.
Penn Women’s Center
Penn’s community center promoting gender justice.
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program
A post-matriculation scholarship and mentorship program for students in the humanities and social sciences. An application is required,
Civic House
Penn’s center for civic engagement and social justice education.
Platt Student Performing Arts House
Penn’s center for student-led performing arts productions.
Fraternity and Sorority Life
Advises Greek Letter Organizations at Penn.
Student Affairs
Provides centralized advising and support for all campus-wide student organizations.
SEAS Student Organizations
Student organizations in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
School of Nursing Student Organizations
Student organizations in the School of Nursing.
Wharton Student Organizations
Student organizations in the Wharton School of Business.
Kelly Writers House
Community house for students with deep interest in their writing craft.
International Students and Scholar Services
In addition to immigration support for international students, also provides community and leadership development programming.
Office of the Chaplain
Provides space and community for religious and spiritual observance while also advising a number of faith-based student organizations.

Alumni Engagement and Community

Penn First Plus Alumni Relations
Penn First Plus Alumni relations coordinates programming and networking opportunities for Penn graduates who were among the first in their families to attend college, and/or had limited resources as undergraduate or graduate students.

Penn FLASH
Penn FLASH is a networking program for current first-generation and/or lower-income students to connect with alumni for purposes of networking and advice on their academic and/or professional pathways.