“What schools are you looking into?”
Alejandrina Guzman was meeting with her high school’s new college counselor. As a first-generation college student and wheelchair user, Guzman had a lot going through her mind as she answered the question.
She listed a couple of local schools, close to home in North Texas: TCU, Texas Wesleyan. Then she hesitated. That was all, she said.
Noticing her pause, the counselor pushed the question. “No, you were thinking of somewhere else.”
Well, Guzman explained, there’s the University of Texas at Austin, but that’s far away.
“We can make it happen,” her counselor said.
Guzman graduated from UT Austin last May after serving as the university’s student body president.
"For many of us, attending college is a far-away dream, many times, even impossible," she said in her graduation speech. "As a proud daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college student, I know that I am beyond lucky to have been a student on the Forty Acres. But these past five years at UT didn't happen all on my own."
"First generation" is notoriously difficult to define (and quantify), but generally refers to students whose parents have not earned college degrees. First-generation students have existed as long as colleges have, and the policies designed to meet their needs have had massive impacts on the development of American higher education. The GI bill is perhaps the most notable example of a first-generation student program. It brought a large swath of the U.S. into the middle class, but that swath was almost exclusively white and male.
Today, Texas is the only state with an increasing K-12 population, and this growth is demographically skewed to Latin Americans, low-income and first generation students, which means more of these same students applying to college. The UT System alone has several campuses where between 20 and 50 percent of its students are first-generation. Considering the lifetime impacts a college education can have on families and communities, first-generation-focused programs are an investment in Texas' development.
First-generation students are often discussed in terms of academic unpreparedness and low graduation and retention rates. But it is critical to understand the challenges that can hinder earning a degree reflect gaps in institutional support systems, not students' abilities. A recent Campus Labs study found that first-generation students are actually more engaged and committed to their education, outscoring their multi-generational peers in educational and campus engagement, but lag behind in social comfort and resilience. First-generation students can thrive, but more so when institutions offer proper support.
High school counseling like Guzman received plays a critical role in improving educational environment, but truly helpful counseling must occur early and often — preferably by ninth or 10th grade. It's a critical priority for first-generation students whose parents aren't as well-versed in the complexities of American higher education preparation, but improved college and career counseling has positive effects on all students.
Once students are on campus, community building becomes a priority. Guzman noticed that many of her fellow first-generation students felt alone, or weren't accessing a full college experience. A phenomenon known as first-generation guilt is the feeling shared by many first-generation students that by enjoying college life they are shirking obligations to their families or home communities. Add to this to the isolating realization that other freshmen arrived with college credit from high school coursework, and even top students may feel that college is not a place they can thrive.
Texas schools are meeting this challenge in several innovative ways. UT Dallas, for example, has living-learning communities where first generation students live and study together under the guidance of on-site advisers. This is similar to the college systems used at Oxford (and in Harry Potter books). UT San Antonio's PIVOT program emphasizes mentorship that pairs a first-gen student with a first-gen faculty. Scholarship programs like University Leadership Network and McNair Scholars at UT Austin create academic communities that promote proven high-impact educational experiences such as internships and study abroad that help round out the college experience. Guzman helped to connect the 22 percent of UT Austin's student body who identify as first-gen with a kickoff event for incoming first-gen students.
Such holistic programs have swept the nation's universities in recent years, but there is still more to be done. In Texas, increasing access to dual credit coursework and easing the transfer process from community college to four-year universities helps first-gen students graduate while also providing more pathways for all students.
Texas has big educational and employment goals. The Legislature is expected to roll out a statewide education plan promoting 60 percent attainment of degrees or certifications by 2030, and our state is continually drawn to the subject of which groups are or are not privileged in the college application process (remember Abigail Fisher?).
But anyone who wants to explore college is best served by focusing on the challenges facing first-generation students like Guzman, future community leaders who still pause before applying to the state’s top schools. Ensuring first-generation students have the tools to succeed will improve our state’s future more than we can know.
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