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First-gen at WSU: Called to care

The WSU College of Nursing has the highest percentage of first-gen students at the university.

A WSU nursing student practicing an injection on a model while others work in the background.

An interesting fact surfaced in Washington State University’s recent Economic Impact Report: the College of Nursing has the highest percentage of first-generation students among WSU colleges. More than 37% of WSU Nursing students are from families where the parents or guardians don’t have a bachelor’s degree.

WSU has long had a strong institutional commitment to first-gen students, a group that makes up nearly a third of student enrollment across the university. But what is it about the College of Nursing that attracts such a large percentage of first-gen students?

For many, it’s the chance to serve.

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A WSU nursing student listening to a patient's heart with a stethoscope in their home.

“I want to go into nursing because I grew up in a rural town and a lot of people there are farm workers. I saw the barriers to health care and I wanted to be able to address those barriers,” said Jorge Gaytan Garcia, who expects to graduate with his bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree in 2027.

Edith Torres earned her BSN from WSU in 2022 and is now working on a doctor of nursing practice degree that will allow her to become a family nurse practitioner.

Both Garcia and Torres come from small farming communities, the kinds of places where Washington’s nursing shortage is especially acute. Like many first-gen students, both plan to use their nursing degrees to help their communities.

Said Torres, “Everywhere you go, you don’t find a provider that looks like you, speaks the language you do. I want to be the advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.”

I want to go into nursing because I grew up in a rural town and a lot of people there are farm workers. I saw the barriers to health care and I wanted to be able to address those barriers.
Jorge Gaytan Garcia

A student filling an injection needle from a bottle while others work in the background.

WSU offers significant programs for first-gen students, including help navigating financial aid, tutoring, and academic and personal counseling. First-gen students at WSU aren’t a niche; they’re centered in the university’s structures and operations.

Garcia and his family took part in a Spanish-language orientation that helped his parents, both migrant farmworkers, feel comfortable sending him to WSU.

“WSU definitely does help first-gen students a lot,” he said.

WSU nursing students and faculty practicing injections in a medical classroom.

A student focused on filling an injection needle from a bottle while another smiling person in scrubs looks on.

Torres, who attended WSU Tri-Cities for her undergraduate degree, relied on the TRIO Student Support center there.

“I realized there were a lot of people like me, and they provided so many amazing services,” she said. “If you need help in any regard or you’re feeling a certain way – homesick, even – just reach out and they’ll be more than willing to help you.”

Garcia said WSU gave him the confidence to embark on his nursing journey.

“Since I was the first in my family to go to university I had no idea what the system was like, how to apply for a dorm, how to move in,” he said. “But I met my community. I’ll be the first in my family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. It’s a great honor and a great responsibility, but hopefully I’m not the last one, either.”

Explore WSU News to learn more about how WSU’s impact goes beyond the numbers.

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