First-gen. students less prepared, report suggests

Most first-generation students are ill-prepared to succeed in key courses upon entering higher-education institutions such as Boston University, according to a report released on Wednesday by American College Testing and the Council for Opportunity in Education.

According to the report, 94 percent of all first-generation students — those whose parents did not receive formal post-secondary education — aspire to pursue a post-secondary education. However, based on the report, many first-generation students fall behind their peers in college-readiness.

Maureen Hoyler, president of COE, said in the report that it highlights the necessity of creating policies to assist first-generation students in preparing for college.

“The lack of families’ college background makes it all the more vital that schools with large percentages of first-generation students integrate supportive services into the required curriculum to create a college-going culture,” Hoyler said. “Also, they must implement these services and strategies on a school-wide basis to ensure that all students are embarked on a path to college.”

The ACT specifies the minimum scores students must earn on the test to indicate they will succeed in key college courses through their research-based ACT College Readiness Benchmarks. According to the report, 31 percent of all ACT-tested graduates met none of the benchmarks this year — 52 percent of which were first-generation students.

While 26 percent of all graduates who took the ACT met all four of the ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks, only nine percent of first-generation students met all four of these benchmarks.

Jon Erickson, president of the ACT Education and Career Solutions, said in the report that first-generation college students face similar obstacles to their peers when preparing for college. However, their parents cannot provide input based on personal experience during the process.

“What we have learned together through this study is important for a greater understanding of first-generation students,” Erickson said. “Yes, many such students face multiple challenges to their academic success. And, yes, many are not as academically ready for college as they need to be.”

Alvi Rahman, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences sophomore and first-generation college student, said although the report’s findings are somewhat demoralizing, there is some truth to them.

“We [first-generation students] don’t know what to expect — we don’t have any help from anybody … [and] we’re going through gray waters,” Rahman said. “… [But] I don’t think I was at a specific disadvantage. I think I’m doing fine right now.”

Laura Marx, a SAR freshman, said it is unfair to measure success based on an individual’s family history, because it is just one factor which goes into a student’s likelihood for success.

“Probably certain factors are more attributable to people that are first-generation [college students], as there are probably other things that they are pre-disposed to, such as lower financial status,” Marx said.

Deniz Varol, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore and first-generation college student, said aside from finances, she does not feel her first-generation status has hindered her ability to succeed in college.

Since her parents did not get the chance to go to college, Varol said she feels extra pressure to succeed academically while at BU.

“As a first-generation student, you are trying so hard to make up for what your parents didn’t do, and your parents also push you, at least mine did,” Varol said. “They push you — ‘you have to go to school, you have to get a degree, you have to do the best and most you can because we weren’t able to do that.’”