Community colleges are open access institutions that serve a diverse student demographic, including non-traditional students who may be the first ones in their families to attend college, are older than traditional college and university students, attend part-time, have work or family responsibilities, have a lower socio-economic status, and have taken non-linear paths to higher education. Thus, these institutions strive to offer services that support disproportionately-impacted students. To understand first-generation students, one must acknowledge their intersectionalities and recognize that systems of higher education define first-generation college students in multiple ways that carry different applications and implications.
The most common definition of a first-generation college student is a student with neither parent having earned a baccalaureate degree. This definition is used by the United States Department of Education and also by the University of California and California State University systems. A different definition used by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office identifies first-generation students as neither parent having attended college. Toutkoushian, et al. (2018) review prior literature and point out that older studies use the definition of neither parent having attended college, but more recent studies have defined first-generation as neither parent having a baccalaureate degree. Other institutions might define the term by including students whose parents have a high school diploma or less or whose parents have some post-secondary experience but no four-year degree (Toutkoushian et al., 2018). The differences between the ways first-generation students are identified have been highlighted in the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (2023) paper Changes to Assessment, Placement, and Instruction in Mathematics and in a Cal Matters article (Echelman, 2023). California community colleges must address and challenge the inequality associated with the various definitions, as first-generation students are counted and supported depending on how they are defined by their institutions.
Given the widespread focus on student success outcomes, equity-focused data disaggregation, and demographic information collected from students when they apply to colleges, institutions need to have a clear definition of a first-generation student. Understanding the definitions is important not only for students but also for faculty and researchers when they interpret outcomes data such as the student likelihood to apply to college and succeed in college (Toutkoushian, et al., 2018). Complexities arise when colleges are surveying students and asking if they identify as first-generation college students because whether the surveys are asking if one or both parents attended college or whether college means a two-year or four-year institution is not clear. Furthermore, defining parents for non-traditional families or for current or former foster youth (Toutkoushian, et al., 2018) suggests a need to use more inclusive language on student-facing materials. California also has many students whose parents were immigrants or who themselves are immigrants: dreamers, refugees, migrants, and undocumented individuals. For these students, whether the term first-generation applies to them if one or both parents have degrees from abroad is also unclear. Consequently, a clarification of the definition of students as first-generation is needed. If the purpose is to help students navigate an educational system they are not familiar with and to close equity gaps, intentional efforts are necessary to revise, expand, and align the definition across all educational systems and policies.
Clear student-facing definitions of first-generation are important for students trying to access services meant to support their success. Local scholarships may cite first-generation as a criterion or desired recipient for a need-based scholarship. Student support programs like the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) codified in California Education Code §§69640 and 69648 and in California Code of Regulations Title 5 §56200 et seq. are equity-focused and are designed to support disproportionately-impacted students, including first-generation students. Title 5 §56280 specifies that special priority must be given to underrepresented students who are first-generation when colleges recruit students to EOPS programs. Even though the process by which colleges or districts recruit into EOPS is a local matter, Title 5 56270 et seq. identifies the elements of an EOPS plan that must be developed by a college or district to be approved by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.
Recently enacted SB444 (Newman, 2023) encourages California community colleges to establish a Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program. These programs seek to increase the number of economically and educationally disadvantaged students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math baccalaureate degrees. Many of these students are likely to identify as first-generation. Therefore, when implementing programs, colleges or districts should make the eligibility criteria as a first-generation student clear to provide intentional support based on the local student needs to help close equity gaps.
Regardless of the definition, each student who identifies as or is identified as first-generation may face certain disadvantages compared to students who are not first-generation. In a system of higher education with such a strong focus on access and equitable outcomes, colleges may consider ways to strategically expand support services to the broadest group of students possible. Leaving the term “first-generation students” unquestioned limits the capacity to understand how these students' backgrounds and identities shape their educational decisions and risks, reproducing inequality in educational outcomes.
References:
Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. (2023). Changes to Assessment, Placement, and Instruction in Mathematics.
Echelman, A. (2023, July 11). Who is a first-generation college student? California colleges, universities can’t agree. Cal Matters
Toutkoushian, R.K., Stollberg, R.A., and Slaton, K.A. (2018). Talking ‘Bout My Generation: Defining “First-Generation College Students” in Higher Education Research. Teachers College Record, 120:4 1-38. Eric.