Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EffectsoftheEducationofaFirstGenerationCollegeStudent
EmilyGabrielaGonzalez
LosAngelesLeadershipAcademy
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
Abstract
Theeducationofafirstgenerationcollegestudentimpactsnotonlythestudentbuttheir
family,education,andcommunity.Firstgenerationcollegestudentswillfacemultipleobstacles
whentheyfirstattendcollegebecauseitisafirsttimeexperience.However,throughcompleting
acollegeeducationthestudentwillhaveagreaterincomethansomeonewhodoesnothavea
collegeeducation.Theywillgainasenseofprideforgoingthroughandachievingtheir
accomplishmentandoverallthegreateroutcomewillbehavingabetterfuture.
Keywords:FirstGeneration,Income,Effect,Impact,Pride,Accomplishment
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
FIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENTS
Firstgenerationcollegestudentstendtofacemanyobstacleswhilebeginningtheir
collegecareers.Collegestudentsthatarethefirstintheirfamiliestopursuehighereducation
leantowardsbeingunderpreparedforacollegeeducation.Mostparentswanttheirchildrento
furthertheireducationandbesuccessfulinlife,becausetheywanttomakesurethattheir
childrenhaveasecurefuturesecured.Thepursuitofcollegeeducationforthefirstgeneration
collegestudentsmaynotbeaneasypath,butthesestudentswillbenefitbecauseinthefuture
theywillhaveahigherincomecomparedtosomeonewhodidnotreceiveacollegeeducation.
Theywillalsohavethesenseofpridefortheiraccomplishmentsandwilloverallhaveastable
future.
STUDENTSWHOHAVEACOLLEGEDEGREEHAVEAHIGHERINCOME
Firstgenerationcollegestudentswhohavecollegedegreesaresaidtoreceivemore
moneyannuallythanastudentwhodidnotfurthertheireducation.AccordingtoarticleF
act
Sheet:FocusingHigherEducationonStudentSuccessC
ollegegraduateswithab achelors
degreetypicallyearn66percentmorethanthosewithonlyahighschooldiplomaandarealso
farlesslikelytofaceunemployment.(2015).Thisquoteisstatingthatpeoplewhopursuea
highereducationaremostlikelytohaveabetterjobtherefore,theywillhaveahigherincome
thansomeonewhodoesnothaveacollegeeducation.Overthecourseofalifetime,theaverage
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
workerwithabachelorsdegreewille arnapproximately$1millionmorethanaworkerwithout
apostsecondaryeducation.(2015).
EventhoughstudentshaveaBachelorsdegree,itdoesnotmeanthattheywill
automaticallymakemoremoneythansomeonewhodidnotobtainacollegeeducation,because
itispossibletobesuccessfulwithoutone.Whenstudentsdoreceiveahigherincomeitbenefits
thestudentbecausetheywillbeabletopurchasetheirownthingsandthefamilyofthatstudent
becausenowthosestudentscandependonthemselves.Furthermore,theycanhelptheirparents
financiallyifneeded.Somestudentsfamiliesstrugglefinanciallywhichisoneofthemain
obstaclesforstudentsnottoattendcollege,butontheotherhandoncetheyobtainthatcollege
degreeitwillbenefitthemmore.
STUDENTSHAVEASENSEOFPRIDEDUETOTHEIRACCOMPLISHMENTS
AccordingtothearticleC
ollegeAffordabilityandcompletion:EnsuringaPathwayto
Opportunity,S
tudentsincludingmanyolderstudentsjugglingworkandfamily
responsibilitiesrecognizethathighereducationisakeytoopportunity,andthathasfueleda
substantialincreaseincollegeattendanceratesinrecentyears.Studentsareacknowledgingthat
attendingandgraduatingfromcollegeisnotgoingtobeaneasytaskandthatitsnotfor
everyone.However,thestudentswhoarepursuingadegreearechoosingtogotocollege
becausetheyknowthatreceivingahighereducationisthekeytotheirfuturesuccess.
Afterthefirstgenerationcollegestudentcompletestheircollegeeducation,the
generationstocomewillbeencouragedtofollowintheirfootsteps.Studentsarenowlearning
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
thattheycanchangetheirpaththrougheducation.NelsonMandelasaid,Educationisthemost
powerfulweaponwhichyoucanusetochangetheworld.Forexample,ifastudentsparenthas
beenlivingalifestylethestudentdoesnotwishtolive,theyhavethepowertochangetheir
futurethroughtheireducation.Firstgenerationcollegestudentsfacemanystrugglesbutthey
understandthatinordertolivetheywaytheywanttolivetheyaregoingtohavetoworkforit.
Manystudentsdonotseethateducationplaysamajorpartintheirlivesbutinrealitytheir
knowledgeonthingsaffectsthechoicesthattheymakeandthemajordecisionsthatwilltake
place.
Onceastudentgraduatesfromcollege,theywillhaveasenseofprideand
accomplishment.Theywillhavefinishedcompletingtheirdegreeandtheywillgoontohaving
agooddecentjob.Theywontbetheonlyoneswhofeelthatsenseofpride,buttheirparentsas
wellwillfeelpridebecauseofthefactthattheirchildhasbeensuccessfulatattainingacollege
degree.AccordingtoarticleFirstGenerationCollegeStudents:TheInfluenceofFamilyon
CollegeExperienceSomeoftheparticipantsdescribedtheirfamiliesasmoreconcernedwith
theachievementofpredeterminedgoals.Thesegoalstendedtobewhatthefamilyconsideredto
beimportant.Oftentimesthismethodofencouragementcreatedapressuretosucceedwithin
theparticipants.Thefamilyofafirstgenerationcollegestudentmaysetstandardsthatmay
seemoutofreachforthatstudent,whichwilllatercausethatstudenttostress.
BETTERFUTURE
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
AccordingtothearticleF
actSheet:FocusingHigherEducationonStudentSuccess A
ta
timewhenjobscangoanywhereintheworld,skillsandeducationwilldeterminesuccess,for
individualsandfornations.Asaresult,collegeeducationremainsthebestinvestmentastudent
canmakeinhisorherfuture(2015).Studentsareencouragedtoinvestintheirownfuture.
AccordingtoarticleF
irstGenerationCollegeStudents,s tudentswillnotattendintocollegefull
timebecausetheywilleitherfindajobaftergraduatingfromhighschoolorbecausetheylack
supportfromtheirfamily.F
irstgenerationcollegestudentsusuallycomefromlowincome
families.Somelowincomestudentsparentscouldnotaffordtogotocollegethemselvessonow
thattheyhavetheirownchildrenandtheirchildrenhavethechoiceofhavingahighereducation
orlivingasimilarlifetowhattheirparentshave.However,thesestudentsalsorecognizethat
collegeprovidesapathwayforstudentstoexplorethemselvesandtheirinterests,toexpand
theirsocialandculturalexperiences,andtobuildamorepromisingcareer(Falcon,2015).
Manynewincomingcollegefreshmenarefirstgenerationstudents.Estimatessuggest
thatfirstgenerationstudentscomprisebetween15%and40%ofallcollegestudentsinthe
UnitedStates(Davis,2010Nuez&CuccaroAlamin,1998).Thesestudentshavemadethe
decisiontofurthertheireducation,butalongtheirjourneytocollegetheyhavebeeninfluenced
bypeoplearoundthem.S
ometeachersmayhavetakeninterestintheirstudentseducationand
motivatedthemtofollowtheirdreams.Theymotivatedthemtoexcelinschoolandgetgood
gradessothattheycanhavebetteropportunitiesaftertheygraduatehighschool.They
encouragethemtojoinsportsbecausesomecollegesofferscholarshipstoathletes.Theyalso
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
recommendtakingAPclassesbecauseitlooksgoodontheirtranscriptwhentheyapplyto
college.WhenitstimetotaketheSATandtheACT,certainteachersmakesuretheyhave
preparedtheirstudentstosucceedandpassthetestswithahighscores.Teachersingeneralwant
toseetheirstudentssucceedtoensurethattheyhaveagoodfutureandtomakesuretheydonot
wastetheirtime.
CONCLUSION
Theeducationofafirstgenerationcollegestudentaffectsnotonlythestudentbuttheir
familyaswell.Thestudentandthefamilywillgothroughobstaclestogetherbecauseattended
collegeisachallengingnewstepthattheywillfacetogether.Notallfamiliesaresupportiveas
othersandthestudentwillhavetomoveforwardintheireducationwithorwithouttheirsupport.
Ifastudentdecidestoattendcollegetheyaremostlikelytomakeahigherincome,gainasense
ofpridefortheiraccomplishments,andhaveaguaranteeofhavingabetterfuture.Ultimately
collegeeducationwillbenefitandinsurefirstgenerationcollegestudentssuccess.
EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT
References
CollegeAffordabilityandcompletion:EnsuringaPathwaytoOpportunity.(n.d)U.S.
DepartmentofEducation.Retrievedfromh ttps://www.ed.gov/college.
FactSheet:FocusingHigherEducationonStudentSuccess.(2015).U
.S.Departmentof
Education.Retrievedfrom
https://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/factsheetfocusinghighereducationstudentsuc
cess.
Falcon,Lauren.(2015).BREAKINGDOWNBARRIERS:FIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGE
STUDENTSANDCOLLEGESUCCESS.TheLeagueforInnovationintheCommunity
College.Retrievedfrom
https://www.league.org/innovationshowcase/breakingdownbarriersfirstgenerationcol
legestudentsandcollegesuccess.
FIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENTS.(n.d).Retrievedfrom
https://www.csuchico.edu/diversity/1stgen/firstgencollegestudents.pdf
Galina,Ben.(n.d).TeachingFirstGenerationCollegeStudents.V
anderbilt.edu.Retrieved
fromh ttps://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teachingfirstgenerationcollegestudents/.
Hodge,AlexaE.,Mellin,ElizabethA.,(n.d).FirstGenerationCollegeStudents:TheInfluence
ofFamilyonCollegeExperience.Retrievedfrom
http://forms.gradsch.psu.edu/diversity/mcnair/mcnair_jrnl2010/files/Hodge.pdf.