Do service learning courses offer the opportunity for first-generation students to experience academic and social integration and ultimately, academic success? Our study answered this question by exploring the quality of interaction between first-generation students and faculty that characterizes service learning pedagogy, and by revealing ways in which service learning courses academically engage first-generation students in community service projects. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, results confirm the vital role of communication between faculty and first-generation students and the potential for service learning courses to facilitate the process of integration. Implications for continued research in this area of instructional communication are also explored. (Contains 2 notes.)