First Graduate

First Graduate currently serves more than 200 students, from seventh graders through college seniors. Every spring, we recruit 25-30 new students from five public middle schools in San Francisco. They are Horace Mann, James Lick, Marina, Roosevelt (all part of SFUSD), and KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy (a public charter school).

Prospective students participate in a rigorous application process beginning in January and ending in May. We seek students who show academic promise, the motivation to succeed in school, and a commitment to the goal of graduating from college.

In addition to filling out a written application, prospective students are invited to Discovery Day - a daylong event in which students engage in group activities and interview with community members who assist in the evaluation process.

Once accepted into the program, First Graduate students commit to do the following: strive for a GPA of 3.0 or higher, apply to an academically rigorous high school, develop strong social and organizational skills, and gain admission to -- and graduate from -- a four-year college.

To learn more about our students, demographics and the schools they attend review our At-a-Glance fact sheet.