'Double Whammy of Disadvantage' :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Sour... - The Diigo Meta page

• 17 Jun 08
  

  Jeremy Zweiacker

  Students who are both low income and first generation are far less likely than their peers to transfer

  Higher_Education

• 

  David Eubanks

  retention first-generation

• 16 Jun 08
  

  • A broad mix of factors — financial, cultural and academic — may account for the underperformance of low-income first-generation students, the Pell Institute’s data show. The students come into college with many more of the risk factors that researchers have widely embraced as diminishing college success, including delaying entry into postsecondary education after high school, attending college part time, working full-time while enrolled, having dependent children, being a single parent, and having a GED. The average first-generation/low-income student has three such risk factors, while the average student who is neither first generation nor low income has one.

      

    Once they are in college, they are more likely to have unmet financial need than are other students. They also work significantly more than other students, and those who work more are less likely to have earned degrees and to remain enrolled six years after entering, as seen in the table below.
  • The poor academic performance of students who are low income and first generation, particularly when they enroll in two-year and for-profit institutions, Engle said, suggests that more of those students should be encouraged to enroll in four-year colleges and universities, where their chances of ultimately attaining a bachelor’s degree will improve.

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