Seth Snyder | University of Minnesota (original) (raw)
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First-generation college students, those whose parents did not complete a post-secondary degree, ... more First-generation college students, those whose parents did not complete a post-secondary degree, are the subjects of much recent research. Their attributes as a group are important to understand in today's knowledge-based economy that highly values higher education. This mixed-methods, exploratory case study examines the first-generation college-aspiring students in pre-college access programs to help discover how it is that they make decisions about college attendance.
The main purpose of this research is to better understand how first-generation and low-income students who participate in college access programs carry out their college searches and in what ways the access programs affect their search and choice process. The framework for this study is a three-stage college search model, and the participants are all high school students in three access programs: Admission Possible, Fast Forward Youth Program, and First Graduate. Background comparisons between overall first-generation students' educational trends and the participants in this study come from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS).
The students who participated (200 survey participants, eleven of whom were subsequently interviewed as well) reported a variety of motivations and interests pertaining to their individual college searches, although the students consistently reported preferences for small or medium sized colleges over large colleges/universities, liberal arts focus over research-focus, and four-year colleges and universities over two-year colleges. The students gave their respective access programs a great deal of credit for helping them with the search process, reducing the stress associated with scholarship and financial aid applications, and improving the eventual outcomes of their searches.
First-generation college students, those whose parents did not complete a post-secondary degree, ... more First-generation college students, those whose parents did not complete a post-secondary degree, are the subjects of much recent research. Their attributes as a group are important to understand in today's knowledge-based economy that highly values higher education. This mixed-methods, exploratory case study examines the first-generation college-aspiring students in pre-college access programs to help discover how it is that they make decisions about college attendance.
The main purpose of this research is to better understand how first-generation and low-income students who participate in college access programs carry out their college searches and in what ways the access programs affect their search and choice process. The framework for this study is a three-stage college search model, and the participants are all high school students in three access programs: Admission Possible, Fast Forward Youth Program, and First Graduate. Background comparisons between overall first-generation students' educational trends and the participants in this study come from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS).
The students who participated (200 survey participants, eleven of whom were subsequently interviewed as well) reported a variety of motivations and interests pertaining to their individual college searches, although the students consistently reported preferences for small or medium sized colleges over large colleges/universities, liberal arts focus over research-focus, and four-year colleges and universities over two-year colleges. The students gave their respective access programs a great deal of credit for helping them with the search process, reducing the stress associated with scholarship and financial aid applications, and improving the eventual outcomes of their searches.