“What we find is that parents play a very important role,” says Saenz. “They are wanting upward social mobility, and students are really tied into the goal.”
The gap between first-generation students expecting to get a job to pay for college and their non-first-generation college peers continues to increase, says the report. The sharp rise in tuition and fees from the mid-1980s to 2005 may be affecting these increased expectations for work during college, researchers say.
Saenz says first-generation students do better at private institutions, but they are least likely to go there due to costs and other disadvantages.
“Private colleges have to do more to attract these students but the reality is that it’s tough to get that message across,” he says.
The trends report is based on 35 years worth of data collected through the Freshman Survey. On average, more than 400,000 entering college freshmen participate in the survey each year.
For a summary of the report, visit www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri
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