Non-First-Generation Students (FGS)

The article “Motivating Firs-Generation Students For Academic Success and College Completion” by Tanjula Petty describes the additional challenges first generation students have to overcome while attending college. A well-heeled diversity and world of opportunities are a few of the positive outcomes of attending college. According to Tanjula Petty (2014), “Yet, the most cited and widely used definition for first- generation students is someone whose parents has not completed a college degree”. Students whose parents did not acquire a college degree, have a lack of support at home. Their family members are not equipped to provide information required for college difficulties students may have. They lack knowledge and resources that students that students with college-educated parents have. The article states that these students are less psychologically prepared for college. Many low-income families do not understand the benefits of graduating from college. First generation students spend more time working and less time studying unlike their classmates. (Petty 2014) Coming from low-income families, many of these students have to divide their time between college and working. Leading students to prioritize money before school. Many work full time while going to school. Working more hours than studying can potentially harm students ' success.

First generation college students are those who are seeking to be the first in their family to earn a degree, according to UCLA. First- generation students can come from low, middle, or high income families without a history of going to college. Families of first generation students can either be supportive of the students plan for a high education or make them feel family pressure to enter the workforce right after high school like they did. First generation students often do not know their options regarding higher education and have fears about going to college and it’s cost. Currently, 42% of UC undergraduates are first generation.

Study conducted by Hicks (2006), compared educational barriers of first-generation to non-first-generation students; first-generation students had dissimilar expectations of college, poorer academic abilities, lack of social preparation, lack of self-esteem, and more financial constraints (Hicks, 2003; Thayer, 2000).

Being a first generation college student is a heavy load to carry due to the constant reminder of having to be a good role model for my siblings. Children of immigrants are often highly expected to excel in their academics and to be involved in extracurricular activities. His/her parent immigrated to the “Land of The Free” in order to receive a better life and to give their children a place to call home. They work from one to two jobs a week just so that we can dig through the pantry, and raid the refrigerator. We sometimes take our parents for granted unknowingly, and constantly fill our heads with a question that we all seem to ask. “How do I please my parents?”, “What do I have to do to make them happy?”. As students we should all be voicing “College!”. Yes, maybe our folks’s dreams have faded away, however that should be our motivation to aim higher; to achieve our American Dream. Throughout our years of education, our very own relatives and teachers have emphasized on the importance of receiving a higher education. I have come to realize that I should not be asking myself “How do I please my parents?”. Instead, “How do I please myself?”, “What will my lifetime goals be?”, “Will it leave my parents hard work in vain?”. Obtaining a higher education will not impact their lives, but will affect yours drastically. My American Dream has always been to become an immigration lawyer that deals with international relations or to become a professor teaching my true passion for

Coming from a smaller town where a lot of families do not have the money to send themselves or even their children to college was tough, I was always worried about what was going to happen after high school was over. Applying for financial aid and signing up for classes without having a family member who has done it before is very difficult, the student don’t know what classes to take or how much money to take out for loans, as a first generation college student myself it has been hard to do all the paperwork for college. A first generation college student can be very stressed like all college students but for first generation students they have no one that has gone through the same thing and that could help them get through it. Financial issues are going to be stressful for every college student, but for first generation students it can get extremely difficult seen as they do not know that much about applying for financial aid. Some students can get scholarships that help to pay for their college, though they do not know how to apply for those scholarships sometimes.Students who are first generation do not get the advice of their parents on college, just like how they do not know how to sign up for financial aid and other resources that are useful.

Are you aware that at least forty percent of the United States is made up of first-generation students? (Earl, 1987.) Being given the label “first-generation,” by definition, means that a student is the first in his or her family to attend and finish college with a college degree. In Hicks 2006 study, he compared the educational barriers of first-generation students to those non-first-generation students. As a result, Hicks found out the first-generation students had different expectations of college, poor academic abilities, lack of social skills, low self-esteem, and more financial restrictions (Hicks, 2003; Thayer, 2000). There are many challenges that first-generation students face in pursuit of a college degree: academic challenges,

Over many years college has been known as a main path to success, yet many students find themselves being first-generation college student and face many challenges that come with it, despite the efforts colleges make to remove this stigma. “Thirty percent of higher ed students today are the first in their family to attend college, while 24 percent-4.5 million- are both first generation and low income” (Opidee, 2015, P.1). These percentages are very high, with 30% of students attending college being the first in their family many students and their families don’t know what they’re getting themselves into when they get to school. Students find that being a first-generation college students affects them even before they start college.

First generation college students face many challenges or barriers along the road to academic success. These barriers can be and are very difficult to first generation college students. By definition a first generation college student is the first in their family to go to college. First generation college students are the first in their families to go to college compared to those who are not first generation college students, they have many more challenges or barriers. These barriers take a lot out of a first generation college student, in fact it takes so much out that 43% of first generation college student’s end up leaving college without their degree according to the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES).

In reflecting on the background of these students, I realize that they often lack the resources necessary to successfully transition, not only into college but once they graduate and are looking for careers. For this reason, I feel that the purpose for pursuing higher education for first-generation, low-income students is to provide them with better opportunities than they would have with only a high school diploma. This is especially important for these students that lack cultural capital,

“Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation” (1). Many people believe that school isn’t for everyone, and whoever goes is privileged for doing so. Countless people in the world today do not attend college, and this is mainly due to an influence of those in their family. Perhaps they are unsupportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling and higher learning. Most of the first-generation students decide to apply to colleges, because they aspire to jobs which require degrees. However, unlike some students whose parents have earned a degree, they often seek out college to bring honor to their families, and to ensure they make a decent amount of money for their future.

Universities are largely composed of contingents of continuing-generation students and professors. This is especially true in elite universities where much of the professors have themselves graduated from elite universities. The same system of institutional stratification that beckons students also grants access to administrators who predominately hold desirable characteristics of the upper middle class . First-generation college students are underrepresented in elite colleges and are far more likely to attend community college than their continuing-generation counterparts . Research of first-generation college students at elite universities has recently begun to emerge in Sociology of Education. However, thorough examination of their path

Research of first -generation students started to increase in the in the early 1970s. During this same time, universities began to solidify the classification of these students by developing guidelines for the first-generation classification and outreach programs for the disadvantaged students (not your typical). This classification and outreach programming took place due to a scarcity of college first-generation student enrollment. Currently, 50% of all college students are first-generation students and 4-year institutions have a first-generation student rate of 34%

I will be the first generation in my family to attend college. a post-secondary education is something that my family and I cannot afford even with the salary that we are gaining now. I'm a person that believes in education since I was little in Haiti where I had to pay for k-12 education and that brought me to really appreciate education and to not take it for granted. I want to become a civil engineer and architect to build houses and bridges around the world, one day I want to open my own firm and to help build houses for the unfortunate. This scholarship would help me a lot because I don't want to be a student that takes loans and become in so much debt that I cannot pay back when I finish college. Through this scholarship, I would be

Hello, Dr. Chapman, I'm a senior at UNC Greensboro, and this program is number one on my list of graduate schools to apply to for the Spring 2018 term. I'm interested in studying first generation students and non traditional community college students. Are there any professors that also have this research interest, or a similar interest? Thanks for your time.

What do you think of when you hear “college student?” Do you picture a young, recent high-school graduate, between 18 – 24 years old, attending a four-year university full-time? I do. And Google does, too! A quick search revealed more than 230 million images of young adults on college campuses.