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In March 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic in the US, institutions of higher education abruptly pivoted to a completely online experience that resulted in massive changes in experiences for faculty, staff, and students. As with other facets of society, the global pandemic has disproportionately impacted those who are already underserved including first-generation college students (FGCS). While we now have more understanding about some outcomes of FGCS from the pandemic, less is known about how FGCS navigated the first weeks of the abrupt transition. This study captures in real time how 54 FGCS from one institution navigated the evolving pandemic and university experience. Themes revealed how students managed an evolving information deluge, cared for their peers, managed online coursework, and dealt with increased financial and familial pressures. Our study concludes with implications for preparing for future abrupt disruptions to higher education.

While there has been increased investigation of the enrollment patterns and access to college for first-generation college students (FGCS), less is understood about how FGCS learn and utilize vital information to persist with limited familial knowledge about college success. In this paper we utilize focus group data of 62 diverse FGCS to create a typology of how students utilize information to succeed in college. Using theory from sociology and information sciences we categorize the sources FGCS learn from and how information is utilized. Our findings indicate that FGCS develop complex ways of finding information even with minimal support and those information sources that are most helpful are often connected to pre-existing and informal relationships. We conclude by offering implications for future research on FGCS student success and opportunities for administrators to incorporate information-finding and relationship-building concepts into student success practice.