Kessler Scholars Program offers first generation college students financial, academic support

Breanna Feil is one of the twenty first-year students offered a spot in Pitt’s new Kessler Scholars Program. For Feil, the program has helped her feel more comfortable while adjusting to Pitt.

“Change is something I really struggle with, so I was really nervous coming to school,” Feil said. “I didn’t have the background that some kids have. I didn’t have the inside resources that kids’ parents could give. It made me more comfortable and adapt to the area more, even as someone who’s kind of from the city.” 

According to their website, the Kessler Scholars Program provides Pell-eligible, first-generation college students holistic academic, financial and social support. Pitt is one of 10 universities to launch the program this year. 20 first-year students received the scholarship, and each student receives personalized and cohort-based advising throughout all four years of their undergraduate studies. 

Students are only eligible to apply if they are invited to by the Kessler Scholars Program at Pitt. April Belback, associate vice provost for student success and advising, said she worked with admissions and financial aid to send out invitations to the incoming class of students. She said admission into the program was not solely based on previous academic performance. 

“It’s like a holistic view of the students,” Belback said. “We asked a lot of great questions just to kind of get at why do you want to be a Kessler scholar? What are some things that you might want to participate in at Pitt? We have a cohort that’s diverse in many ways. Academically, we have students from all different units around the University.”

Pitt joined the Kessler Scholars Program because the University is dedicated to enrolling more Pell-eligible, first-generation students, according to Belback. She said the program is continuously working to fulfill the needs of its students. 

“It’s a brand-new program, but we’re trying to develop more resources for the students as those needs arise,” Belback said. “I know one issue right now is books. You know, books are expensive, and so, how can we fill that gap? It might be something to think about a little more deeply.” 

First-year Leah Cottrell said the program has provided her with the necessary tuition assistance to attend a four-year college program. 

“It’s definitely helping me not go into as much debt as I would have without it,” Cottrell said. “It’s allowed me to meet some really neat people, and we met the counselors and had to do a group activity the first day that we moved in.”

Students are required to enroll in a one-credit Kessler Scholar seminar class. Sophia Mancinelli, a first-year student, said this class has helped her adjust to Pitt because the advisers discuss tips to succeed in college. 

“A lot of it is like bonding at the same time,” Mancinelli said. “It’s like college readiness and different things you could do at college. Last Tuesday, we learned about different study strategies and different ways that we can maximize our studying based on what kind of learner we are.”

Feil said her advisers did not want her cohort to “put too much on their plate.” She said her adviser constantly reminds her to not give up and continues to provide specialized advice such as which classes to take for her interests. 

“Being a freshman, first semester, none of us knew what was too many classes or what wasn’t enough,” Feil said. “As long as we had our standard 12 credits, that’s what they wanted. They didn’t want us to go and be busy every single day. They wanted us also to have [time] to relax and get to know campus.”

Cottrell said the program required students to attend the Provost Academy, which provides students with an onboarding summer experience before the semester begins. She also said if students are eligible for the program, they should apply.

“It was nice to already get to meet people day one,” Cottrell said. “It wasn’t trying to make friends and do everything the super hard way… you knew that you were all similar one way or another because we were all there, and we all just kind of made friends right off the boat.”