First Generation

Illustration of high school student walking on path.
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College & Workforce Readiness 'Just Try It Out': What's Behind a Shift Away From 4-Year College
Some high school students choose options other than college. Here's what recent graduates are saying.
Isaiah Hayes, July 30, 2024
6 min read
Illustration of a college building and diverse students.
Collage via iStock/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Q&A Common App Will Offer Some Students Direct College Admission. Its CEO Explains
A new program aimed at motivating more first-generation, low-income students to go to college launches this month.
Ileana Najarro, November 3, 2023
7 min read
Araceli Alarcon and Nathanael Severn, seniors at San Luis Obispo High School, pictured in downtown San Luis Obispo, Calif., on June 7, 2022.
Araceli Alarcon and Nathanael Severn, seniors at San Luis Obispo High School, in San Luis Obispo, Calif., will be the first in their families to attend college. While the pandemic complicated their plans, both teenagers persisted in their path to start college this fall.
Morgan Lieberman for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness In Their Own Words Stories of Tenacity: 3 First-Generation College-Bound Students Keep Their Dreams on Track
The pandemic upended college plans for more than a million young people, but not these seniors.
Catherine Gewertz, June 9, 2022
6 min read
Student Well-Being Spotlight Spotlight on Helping Students
This Spotlight will empower you with insights on newer tutoring methods and learning solutions available, mental health supports, and more.
March 23, 2022
Alma Lopez, school counselor coordinator at Livingston Middle School, at the school in Livingston, Calif., on December 14, 2021.
Alma Lopez, school counselor coordinator at Livingston Middle School, at the school in Livingston, Calif., on December 14, 2021.
Max Whittaker for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness 3 Ways to Help Students to Be the First in Their Families to Attend College
Alma Lopez, the 2022 ASCA School Counselor of the Year, offers advice on how to help first-generation students navigate college planning.
Ileana Najarro, January 6, 2022
3 min read
Logan Balfantz
Logan Balfantz
Courtesy of Sarah Kubinski
College & Workforce Readiness Louisiana Student Finds Stability Amid Tumultuous Freshman Year
Logan Balfantz arrived at the University of Notre Dame last fall considering himself one of the lucky graduates in 2020.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 18, 2021
3 min read
Twin brothers John and Jonathan Easter walk together in their hometown of Bradley, Ark. a few weeks before they are going to begin college on July 30, 2021.
Twin brothers John and Jonathan Easter walk together in their hometown of Bradley, Ark. a few weeks before they are going to begin college on July 30, 2021.
April Kirby/For Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Video Resilience, Faith, and Support: How Twin Brothers Forged Diverging Paths to College
Twin brothers from rural Arkansas reflect on their path to college in the midst of the pandemic.
Brooke Saias, September 21, 2021
1 min read
Supportive hand holds up a student who is reaching for a star
iStock/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion I'm a First-Generation American. Here's What Helped Me Make It to College
A college junior shares three ways to help immigrant and first-generation students succeed in education.
Roni Lezama, January 11, 2021
4 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Importance of SAT, ACT Scores Dwindling in College Admissions
A new survey shows that colleges are responding to the call to make SAT or ACT scores optional when students apply for admission.
Catherine Gewertz, November 12, 2018
2 min read
Curriculum First-Generation College Students Face Extra Challenges in High School, Too
Students whose parents didn't go to college are more likely to take fewer challenging courses when they're in high school, a new research brief shows.
Catherine Gewertz, February 8, 2018
3 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Colleges Expand Commitments to Recruit Underserved Students
Colleges and universities are expanding their commitments to bring more low-income, high-achieving students onto their campuses as part of the American Talent Initiative.
Catherine Gewertz, December 7, 2017
1 min read
College & Workforce Readiness First-Generation College Students Face Special Risks, Study Finds
A new study shows that students who are the first in their families to attend college are far less likely to finish college degrees than those from college-going families.
Catherine Gewertz, September 26, 2017
1 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Video Following Up on a First-Generation College-Goer
A year ago, Ayat Husseini’s dreams of going away to college looked like they were evaporating. Her parents, an immigrant couple from Lebanon, had cultural objections and fears about her leaving her home in New York City. This fall, Education Week checked back on Ayat, now happily ensconced on a leafy green college campus in Pennsylvania.
December 7, 2016
2:50
College & Workforce Readiness Video A First-Generation College-Goer Samples Campus Life
A few weeks on a university campus over the summer can help first-generation college students brave the leap to higher education. Betty Torres, a rising senior at IDEA College Preparatory charter school in the small Texas town of Mission, studied medical research at Brown University and astronomy at the University of Notre Dame this summer. She captured her Notre Dame experience in this video. Read more here: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/07/20/summer-programs-help-first-gen-college-goers-brave.html Education Week Video
July 25, 2016
1:56