First-generation students represent over 40% of Texas’ college population, including more than half of students at the University of Texas at El Paso. Applications from first-generation students in Texas have more than tripled in the last five years, meaning students that are the first in their families to attend college will play an increasingly central role in shaping Texas’ future workforce.

As the numbers demonstrate a sizable and growing population of these students entering higher education, we begin to see how the future of Texas is in first-generation students. They will fill the classrooms, clinics, and offices that drive our economy in the years to come, and will be the civic leaders, tech innovators, and problem-solvers that take us into the next era of growth and opportunity.

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