Being a First-Generation College Student

Introduction

First-generation college students are those individuals whose parents did not attend a college or university and therefore have no prior formal exposure to the expectations, practices, and culture of higher education. While serving as a critical and growing component of the higher education student population, first-generation students are demographically situated in ways suggesting particular interests and needed support considerations. Most prominent among these is that students from first-generation families disproportionately come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and are racially and culturally diverse.

Nearly a third, or 30%, of all college students currently meet the definition of first-generation in terms of parental college transition. This number rises to nearly 50% at community colleges and for the most rapidly growing first-generation subgroup: first-generation immigrants aged 25 and older.

The proportion of first-generation students in the overall higher education student population is growing for several reasons. One of which is due to policies aimed at diversifying enrollment and supporting access for students from non-traditional backgrounds. In addition, higher education’s novel embrace of low-income students is dramatically increasing the number of first-generation students on college and university campuses. By increasing the diversity of college populations, first-generation students further enrich higher education and offer various valuable assets such as their multilingualism, work experience, commitment to family and community, and cultural knowledge and insight. Nevertheless, first-generation students and their families face formidable challenges in the pursuit of higher education, often encountering complex legal, financial, and social systems that are difficult to navigate and understand. Among these, colleges and universities are no exception.

Challenges Faced by First-Generation College Students

Higher education is a complex landscape to navigate for everyone, but first-generation college students often do so with added difficulties. One of the academic challenges first-generation students face is imposter syndrome. This can stem from a lack of familial precedent for college attendance or the popular belief that first-generation students are less capable. Financial strain is also an issue for these students, who often come from low-income households. Many first-generation students have siblings or aging parents they want to help support, in addition to themselves or their own children. These students often qualify for federally funded grants and face additional financial needs that, without assistance from grants, make affording college and basic needs impossible. This is further complicated by the rigidity of many colleges' financial aid systems, which offer packages based on assumptions of students coming from typical families and needing only to support themselves. A heavy focus on financial struggles can result in increased financial precarity in families through career-launching moves away from home. Aside from the financial challenges, the basic costs of college attendance are also a struggle for first-generation students to shoulder. These students, with no family precedent for college attendance, may lack financial literacy skills to navigate college costs and avoid common indebtedness traps, which can result in long-term financial hardship. It is expensive not only to get a degree but also to stop when students have already invested finances and time.

A central theme in the interviews is that being in college makes these students feel more alone than they ever have before. There are intense emotional struggles in the external and imagined perceptions, which compound social conflict. The excessive isolation also causes other practical and emotional problems. Social adaptation not only plays a role in growing comfort and confidence in college maintenance but also enables support networks that help students resolve practical and emotional challenges. These challenges are often further complicated by the fact that retention support services are offered by many universities, but they are not always easy to access or mainstream across the university. Additionally, the bureaucratic culture of colleges can be a struggle to navigate for all students, especially those who lack guidance from someone who has previously attended college. The complex semester-by-semester registration process leaves little room for error, which can result in decreased quality, efficiency, and satisfaction of college attendance. Educational and psychological revisit priorities discourage faculty from remedying this issue. For first-generation students, colleges also invest less in admissions, enrollment, and retention strategies. This results in less programming designed to include or support first-generation students and their specific needs and obstacles. The system disincentivizes inclusion and retention support, which can emphasize real or perceived messages of unwelcome and incompetence. Indigenous and other similar populations often experience the compounded impact of these obstacles, including those related to sentiment.

Support Systems and Resources

Many resources are available to first-generation college students as they move through college. At the institutional level, mentorship programs, counseling services, and academic workshops are just a few of the support programs implemented at colleges and universities nationwide. Many theorists argue that a supportive campus environment can offer these students the key to their educational goals. Positive interactions with faculty and their peers significantly affect the college experience of first-generation students and can help contribute to a healthy, satisfying college life. Given the number of challenges outlined in previous sections, it follows that the resources and support available to first-generation students are crucial.

Colleges and universities can address barriers to academic success for first-generation college students, and some have done this quite effectively. One institution has initiated various support programs for first-generation students that have contributed to increased retention rates and improved four- and six-year graduation rates over the last several years. Another college offers a Peer Mentor Program that pairs first-generation college students with faculty mentors for two years in hopes of moving students through to a four-year institution. A university offers a First Year Program that was designed to offer an intrusive advising program and is geared to the specific challenges and complex issues in the lives of first-generation students. The center is focused on partnering with schools in the community to increase the number of first-generation college students, and the goal is to help them be successful in transitioning into college and persisting through degree completion. Family and community networks of support that foster the development of aspiration can offer diverse forms of help regarding educational policy and information about access to college. An illustrative story of a first-generation student is that of a college president who highlights the importance of utilizing the resources available to you, both at home and in the community, that will help ensure that you are academically prepared to attend a college or university.

Success Stories and Strategies

One first-generation student who has already embarked on his career is Emanuel Pimentel, a young Puerto Rican man originally from Miami, Florida. Emanuel recalls being active on his university campus and is still eager to continue discussing issues of diversity with administration and other campus leaders. Emanuel says he wasted no time pursuing opportunities like the Leadership Conference in Miami his freshman year and learning how to navigate career fairs. “Make the most of your time in college,” he advises. Other current and former students muse over the “full ride” scholarship they have enjoyed during their academic careers at the university.

Not all first-generation students expecting to “blow people away” eventually will be offered career services assistance, or have professors “steer” possible mentors their way, or even hear of potential employment. Some must work 30 hours a week during school and then drive an hour to work on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Many sustain personal losses because of unpaid internships. Money, family, and work problems can sometimes lead to poor performance, says freshman Erica Mack, but she makes sure to set her own special goals such as creating a scholarship for first-generation students once she is hired in the corporate world.

Time management is another valuable tool that is a point of advice for students. All agree that it takes willpower to create the balance needed on a college campus. Each student provided an example of a time it had been inconvenient or an academic performance sacrifice to be at their job. Successes include job advancement, access to the university's center and career fair, the self-discovery that they are headed in the right direction, comfort with public speaking, and a private sector job offered. Four of the 10 participants aced their internships and were offered full-time employment after graduation.

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