Carolina Firsts is an organization at UNC-Chapel Hill that provides services and resources to first generation college students at the university.  The organization serves a large student population, as close to 20 percent of UNC-CH undergraduates are first generation college students, and 50 percent of the university's transfer students are first generation college students.  A first generation college student comes from a family where neither parent has obtained a 4 year undergraduate degree.

In addition to providing resources for first generation college students, Carolina Firsts encourages UNC-CH professors and staff to become Carolina Firsts Advocates.  Advocates complete a training in which they learn about the experiences of first generation college students, discuss barriers to college completion, and are given the resources to help first generation college students in their daily work.  Carolina Firsts currently has advocates from over 50 departments at the university.  The list of current advocates is available on the UNC-CH Undergraduate Retention Office of Undergraduate Education website.

The Carolina Firsts student organization consists of a student-run executive board that meets with the directors of the Carolina Firsts organization in order to better facilitate contact between Carolina Firsts and first generation college students.  The group meets and functions like any other club on the UNC-CH campus, and its goal is to create a smaller community for first generation college students within the larger university community.  For example, the Carolina Firsts student organization runs a mentoring program that connects incoming first generation college students with upperclassmen first generation college students, and encourages these incoming students to use older students as an important resource to help them navigate classes and campus.

The Carolina Firsts organization holds various events throughout the academic year, including a Welcome Reception at the beginning of the fall semester and a Homecoming tailgate, and members of the Carolina Firsts student organization are present at student orientation and Fall Fest to speak with incoming first generation college students.  One of the main Carolina Firsts events is the Graduation Recognition and Pinning Ceremony, in which first generation college graduates are invited to take part in a ceremony in their honor and are presented with a special pin to wear on their graduation garb.  This Graduation Recognition and Pinning Ceremony is a university tradition, and graduates are encouraged to invite their families and people who have greatly impacted their lives during their time at UNC-CH.      Carolina Firsts 2013 Graduation Recognition and Pinning Ceremony