'Double Whammy of Disadvantage'
Doug Lederman - InsideHigherEd.com
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
Much has been made of the need to improve access to higher education for students from low-income backgrounds and those who are part of the first generation in their families to attend college. But the many recent initiatives by colleges to increase their recruitment of and financial aid for such students will only truly succeed if the traditionally underrepresented students thrive academically once they're there.
New data compiled by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education suggest that on that count, the picture is not good.
The analysis, presented by the institute's interim director, Jennifer Engle, at the Student Financial Aid Research Network Conference Saturday in Baltimore, makes abundantly clear how the deck is stacked against students who both come from low-income families and are first-generation college students - what the researchers call the "double whammy of disadvantage."
Students who are both low income and first generation are far less likely than their peers to transfer; six years after starting at public two-year or for-profit colleges, only 26 percent of low-income, first generation students have transferred anywhere else, compared to about 40 percent of those who are either first generation or low income and 62 percent of students who are neither. The numbers who have transferred to four-year institutions are even lower - 14 percent for low-income and first-generation students, 25 percent for those who are one or the other, and 50 percent for students who are neither first generation nor low income.
And first-generation, low-income students are one fifth as likely - 11 percent compared to 55 percent - to have earned a bachelor's degree after six years as are students who are neither low income nor first generation.
"For too many low-income, first-generation students, the newly opened door to American higher education has been a revolving one," said Vincent Tinto, a Pell Institute Senior Scholar and distinguished professor of higher education at Syracuse University, who worked with Engle on the new data. "The unavoidable fact is that while college access has increased for this population, the opportunity to successfully earn a college degree, especially the four-year degree, has not."
To see the results of this study, visit http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/16/first.
New data compiled by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education suggest that on that count, the picture is not good.
The analysis, presented by the institute's interim director, Jennifer Engle, at the Student Financial Aid Research Network Conference Saturday in Baltimore, makes abundantly clear how the deck is stacked against students who both come from low-income families and are first-generation college students - what the researchers call the "double whammy of disadvantage."
Students who are both low income and first generation are far less likely than their peers to transfer; six years after starting at public two-year or for-profit colleges, only 26 percent of low-income, first generation students have transferred anywhere else, compared to about 40 percent of those who are either first generation or low income and 62 percent of students who are neither. The numbers who have transferred to four-year institutions are even lower - 14 percent for low-income and first-generation students, 25 percent for those who are one or the other, and 50 percent for students who are neither first generation nor low income.
And first-generation, low-income students are one fifth as likely - 11 percent compared to 55 percent - to have earned a bachelor's degree after six years as are students who are neither low income nor first generation.
"For too many low-income, first-generation students, the newly opened door to American higher education has been a revolving one," said Vincent Tinto, a Pell Institute Senior Scholar and distinguished professor of higher education at Syracuse University, who worked with Engle on the new data. "The unavoidable fact is that while college access has increased for this population, the opportunity to successfully earn a college degree, especially the four-year degree, has not."
To see the results of this study, visit http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/16/first.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Marilyn Hillsman
posted 7/03/08 @ 10:58 AM CST
This is a very interesting article highlighting that money alone cannot help a low-income and first generation student succeed. Unlike traditional programs that orient the student, prepare the student years ahead of enrolling in college with high school counselors, and have a protocol for providing support on campus, generally non-trads are left to their own resources to succeed. (Continued…)
Molly Saunders
posted 7/07/08 @ 11:36 AM CST
I would have to agree with Marilyn.
This article is one I have been waiting for for years. Although I am a traditional student, I may be non-traditional in the way I regard non-traditional students. (Continued…)
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