First-generation college (FGC) students compose nearly a third of the total student population in most four-year higher education institutions in the United States. Yet they graduate in drastically lower rates than their non-first-generation peers. To understand how these students can persist with their college learning, faculty need to reconceptualize the framework of how they teach toward these students' learning of subject matter. This commentary paper argues for a funds of knowledge approach to understanding the learning in college classrooms for FGC students, as well as the important role of faculty in shaping the overall college-learning experiences for these students.