Three Statistics to Know About First-Generation College Students

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What if the key to enriching our educational system lies in a group that's often overlooked? Discover why first-generation college students are crucial to the lifeblood of higher education in my latest solo episode. I'll take you through three compelling data points that highlight the massive presence of first-gen students in U.S. colleges—over half of undergraduates! Yet, these students face a staggering gap in graduation rates compared to their peers, raising critical questions about institutional support and retention.

Join me as I unpack my philosophy: once a student is admitted, it's our duty to ensure their success. As we look ahead to demographic shifts, understanding and supporting first-gen students becomes not only a moral imperative but a strategic advantage for enriching the entire educational community. 

Please help others find this podcast by rating and reviewing wherever you listen!

You can find me at https://www.firstgenfm.com/ and on LinkedIn. My email is [e-mail].

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the First Gen FM podcast.
I'm Jen Jennifer Schoen and I'mhere to share ideas from around
the country from myself, fromother people, about what we're
doing in the first generationspace for first generation
college students.
Thank you for joining me todayand subscribing to the First Gen

(00:28):
FM podcast.
Hi, it's Jen here and I'm goingto do a solo episode today.
That is going to be very brief.
What I wanted to do is just togive you, just to share with you
, a few data points about whyour work is so important, who's
in the college now, what'scoming up next and why first-gen
students are really importantto the lifeblood of our

(00:51):
institutions and important forus to pay attention to.
Probably, if you're listeningto this, you already know this,
but I think this is very goodinformation for us to have when
we're talking to upper-leveladministrators or to anyone
who's curious or wants moreinformation on first generation
students.
First, the good news More thanhalf of the undergraduates in

(01:14):
the United States, about 5million students, are considered
first generation.
That is a huge number, morethan half and five million.
The question is they're gettingto college, they're getting
that access more than they everhave, but what are we doing to
retain them and sadly, there issome bad news on that side.

(01:38):
Graduation rates for first genstudents depending on what you
read and depending on how theauthors or the researchers are
defining first gen can beanywhere from 24% to 48%.
The reason is that firstgeneration students are nearly
30% less likely to graduate thantheir continuing generation

(02:01):
peers.
Now, I know that there are manyreasons for that, and probably
a big reason is thatinstitutions are not giving them
the support that they need.
They're getting accepted tocolleges, they're getting that
access, but how are we helpingthem attain their degree?
What programs, what people dowe have in place to increase

(02:26):
that graduation rate?
It is my philosophy, and it hasbeen my philosophy in my 35 plus
years of working in highereducation, that if we admit a
student as an institution, if Iadmit a student to my
scholarship program atNortheastern University, then my
job is to do everything I canto help them graduate.

(02:49):
So, whether that's looking atpolicies that are in place that
are affecting them and placingunnecessary obstacles in their
way to graduation, or whetherthat's something that maybe
we're doing in our selectionprocess that is a detriment to
first-generation students, myjob, then, is to help, to talk

(03:13):
to the folks that I'm workingwith and find the people to get
rid of some of those barriers,find out what ways we can
support what resources, whatpeople can be in place or can be
trained to specifically workwith first-generation students
Not necessarily to increasepeople at the institution, but

(03:36):
so that everyone knowsfirst-generation students are
unique and special and wonderfuland if we give them some
assistance where they need it,then later on we'll be able to
just kind of get out of theirway and watch them blossom.
So again, my philosophy is, ifwe accept them, we certainly
need to do everything we canindividually as an institution

(03:59):
to help those students succeedand reach that milestone of
graduation.
So the good news is that morethan half of our undergraduates
are first gen is that the numberof first generation students
entering college is onlyprojected to grow over the next
decade.
And considering we always talkabout the demographic cliff

(04:20):
that's coming with the number ofstudents who are graduating
high school and getting ready togo on to college, then this is
a group that we really need toconsider in how we're doing
recruitment.
But again, getting them to theinstitution is one thing,
getting them to succeed and gettheir degree at the institution
is another thing.

(04:40):
So, asking admissions, how areyou finding first-generation
students?
And hopefully not just the oneseveryone is going for, those
high-achieving first-generationstudents or the first-generation
students who are also from highincomes who can afford to pay
the full ride to college, butthat we're also looking at

(05:02):
first-generation students fromall economic backgrounds.
This group is going to grow, sonot only do we want them to
come to our universities and addtheir unique and wonderful way
of going through college, wewant these students to come to

(05:22):
our college because havingfirst-generation students on a
college campus makes the collegecampus that much better and
adds to the diversity of theinstitution.
Now, I'm saying that right now,coming from a highly selective,
predominantly white institutionthat happens to be very
expensive, so I know howdifficult it is to recruit the

(05:44):
type of students that we wouldlike to see more of from the
first generation and perhapsmiddle class and lower income
student groups.
But keep fighting the goodfight, everybody, we'll get this
done.
In case you're wondering, wheredid I get this information
about more than half ofAmerica's undergraduate students
are first gen, or they'renearly 30% less likely to

(06:07):
graduate, or that it's onlyprojected to grow over the next
decade.
I am privileged to be part ofFirst Gen Forward, which is a
program that comes through theCenter for First Gen Student
Success.
So if you're looking for moreinformation on first generation
students, I highly encourage youto go to the Center for First

(06:27):
Generation Student Success.
Their resources are incredibleand they are dedicated to
working with first-gen studentsat all college levels community
college, two-year, four-year,you name it.
Check out their website.
Check out all of theinformation that they have there
for you.
Now I know if you're listeningto a podcast called First Gen FM

(06:49):
.
This is probably in yourwheelhouse and you're really
excited to work with first genstudents.
But in case this is new to you,welcome and please help us
support our first gen studentsgetting to and getting through
college.
I'm about to launch anotherpodcast called College TNT
that's going to be part of FirstGen FM and College TNT.

(07:11):
Did I call it that because it'sgoing to be explosive?
Not necessarily.
I'm calling it that because Iwant to help students and their
families get to and throughcollege successfully, and so I'm
going to share strategies andideas that will help students
and their families make thathappen.

(07:31):
So that will debut shortly.
So, as long as you'resubscribed to FirstGenFM.
You'll be hearing more aboutthat in your feed.
Thank you for listening.
You can always reach me at Jenat FirstGenFMcom.
Thanks again.