How to define first generation college student these days?

[Lucas Jones]

I can’t figure it out! One advisor told me it means neither parent finished a bachelor’s. Someone else said it’s only if your parents never went to college at all. And my friend swears her school counts her because her mom took a few classes but didn’t complete anything.

So how do you define first generation college student in your department?
Do you go by degrees, enrollment, or vibes at this point?

 

[GradLifeJoe]

In my experience, the confusion comes from the fact that schools don't train staff on this. One advising center might use a strict federal definition, and another office five steps away relies on an internal policy written ten years ago no one follows the same rules

 

[CineBroX]

bro my campus orientation said one thing and the financial aid workshop said the opposite. I stopped asking because every time I did, someone pulled out a new form I’d never seen. At this point I feel like everyone’s just guessing lol

 

[DormHallChloe]

Okay, let's see... what does first generation college student mean? You can trace most definitions back to federal TRIO guidelines. TRIO treats a student as first-gen if neither parent completed a bachelor's degree. That's it. Not "enrolled," not "took a few courses," not "finished a certificate."

The issue is that colleges layer their own goals on top of this. Admissions offices can broaden the definition because they want to report higher first-gen numbers for diversity metrics. Financial aid offices narrow it because grant eligibility affects budgeting. Some scholarship committees even look at which parent the student lived with while growing up - a new layer of gray area.

By the way, foreign degrees are so messy in terms of first-gen policies. Some institutions evaluate them as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's; others don't recognize them at all. I've literally seen two departments argue over the same student's file because one counted the parent's degree and the other didn't.

 

[Grant.Turner]

Okay, let's see... what does first generation college student mean? You can trace most definitions back to federal TRIO guidelines. TRIO treats a student as first-gen if neither parent completed a bachelor's degree. That's it. Not "enrolled," not "took a few courses," not "finished a certificate."

The issue is that colleges layer their own goals on top of this. Admissions offices can broaden the definition because they want to report higher first-gen numbers for diversity metrics. Financial aid offices narrow it because grant eligibility affects budgeting. Some scholarship committees even look at which parent the student lived with while growing up - a new layer of gray area.

By the way, foreign degrees are so messy in terms of first-gen policies. Some institutions evaluate them as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's; others don't recognize them at all. I've literally seen two departments argue over the same student's file because one counted the parent's degree and the other didn't.

my campus follows TRIO too but they never tell students that. it;s an important detail to include somewhere tho…

 

[UniChick_23]

Okay, let's see... what does first generation college student mean? You can trace most definitions back to federal TRIO guidelines. TRIO treats a student as first-gen if neither parent completed a bachelor's degree. That's it. Not "enrolled," not "took a few courses," not "finished a certificate."

The issue is that colleges layer their own goals on top of this. Admissions offices can broaden the definition because they want to report higher first-gen numbers for diversity metrics. Financial aid offices narrow it because grant eligibility affects budgeting. Some scholarship committees even look at which parent the student lived with while growing up - a new layer of gray area.

By the way, foreign degrees are so messy in terms of first-gen policies. Some institutions evaluate them as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's; others don't recognize them at all. I've literally seen two departments argue over the same student's file because one counted the parent's degree and the other didn't.

The foreign degree thing is wild. I’ve had classmates approved one semester and denied the next because different staff handled their paperwork. I mean, wtf??

 

[Leo_Cobalt7]

Okay, let's see... what does first generation college student mean? You can trace most definitions back to federal TRIO guidelines. TRIO treats a student as first-gen if neither parent completed a bachelor's degree. That's it. Not "enrolled," not "took a few courses," not "finished a certificate."

The issue is that colleges layer their own goals on top of this. Admissions offices can broaden the definition because they want to report higher first-gen numbers for diversity metrics. Financial aid offices narrow it because grant eligibility affects budgeting. Some scholarship committees even look at which parent the student lived with while growing up - a new layer of gray area.

By the way, foreign degrees are so messy in terms of first-gen policies. Some institutions evaluate them as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's; others don't recognize them at all. I've literally seen two departments argue over the same student's file because one counted the parent's degree and the other didn't.

Nobody wants to rewrite the outdated forms they reuse every year

 

[LunaQuill]

I guess your family situation doesn’t fit into the boxes schools use.

I was in that limbo too, asking am I a first generation college student? My dad completed an associate degree back in the early 2000s, and my mom took a few online courses but never earned a credential. Depending on who I asked on campus, I was either definitely first gen, maybe first gen, or it depends on the grant.

After getting bounced around for weeks, the most helpful person I talked to was a TRIO coordinator. She said, We focus on whether a student grew up with a parent who had the social, academic, and cultural roadmap of a bachelor’s degree.

So it’s about what resources were available at home.

 

[Chase89]

I guess your family situation doesn’t fit into the boxes schools use.

I was in that limbo too, asking am I a first generation college student? My dad completed an associate degree back in the early 2000s, and my mom took a few online courses but never earned a credential. Depending on who I asked on campus, I was either definitely first gen, maybe first gen, or it depends on the grant.

After getting bounced around for weeks, the most helpful person I talked to was a TRIO coordinator. She said, We focus on whether a student grew up with a parent who had the social, academic, and cultural roadmap of a bachelor’s degree.

So it’s about what resources were available at home.

This helps a lot honestly. I wish more staff explained the why like the coordinator did.