Title: Who are first-generation students and how do they fare?
Headings: Who's in First (Generation)?
Who's in First (Generation)?
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Content: They found, for instance, a student's initial interest in attending college varied greatly depending on whether neither parent attended college versus everyone else who had at least one parent attending some level of college. Students with at least one parent attending college had a very similar level of interest as those with both parents having college experience, Toutkoushian said. But when it came to enrolling in college, students with only one parent in college were at a disadvantage relative to those with two parents who had some college background, he said. "Regardless of how we define it, first-generation students are at a disadvantage when compared to non-first-generation students," Toutkoushian said. Toutkoushian admits that defining first-generation students doesn't answer many of the questions he has posed, such as the effect of a sibling or relative attending college on a first-generation student, or if at least one parent has a graduate-level education. "Probably the biggest thing we can do is work within schools to provide kids with information about college options early," Toutkoushian said, adding that there has been research that has shown about half of students decide they plan to attend college before the sixth grade. " And interventions should happen early, so we're not waiting until high school and we're getting them in middle school." And although education levels are rising, Toutkoushian said policy makers shouldn't expect to have fewer first-generation students. "The fastest growing demographic is Hispanics and Latinos and they tend to have lower educational levels than non-Hispanics and non-Latinos," he said. " So we might have more first-generation students moving forward."