EFFECTSOFTHEEDUCATIONOFAFIRSTGENERATIONCOLLEGESTUDENT

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.