Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with outcomes such as full-time employment and higher pay for young adults. However, student persistence through college and borrowing varies by generation status. A new study finds that about 20 percent of first-generation college students had obtained a bachelor’s degree 10 years after their sophomore year in high school. This is a lower percentage than continuing-generation college students with at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree or higher (42 percent).

The findings are from a new brief that examines background and educational characteristics, plans for college, postsecondary enrollment, and postsecondary completion patterns of first-generation college students and their peers whose parents have college degrees. The brief also explores how postsecondary plans, attendance, and completion varies between these two groups of students, as well as student-reported information regarding the reasons why some postsecondary enrollees did not obtain a credential.

Key Findings

• A larger percentage of first-generation college students come from lower earning households compared to continuing-generation students with at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree or a higher level of educational attainment. For example, 27 percent of first-generation college students came from households making $20,000 or less, compared to 6 percent for continuing-generation students with at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree or higher;
• In 10th grade, a higher percentage of first-generation college students expected their highest level of educational attainment to be a a bachelor’s degree (36 percent) or a master’s degree or above (32 percent) than some postsecondary education (13 percent) or a high school diploma or less (8 percent); and
• A higher percentage of first-generation college students (54 percent) said they left college without a postsecondary credential because they could not afford to continue going to school compared to continuing-generation students with at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree or a higher (45 percent).