First in Their Families

About one out of every five students in the UW’s 2008 freshman class is entitled to say, “I’m the first person in my immediate family to go to college.” Among these first-generation students, 49 percent were eligible for financial aid, compared to 19 percent of freshmen whose parents have college degrees. Knowing more about these students, UW officials hope, will identify ways to help them through the college experience.

In this first-generation group, more of the students are:

• female
• slightly older
• from rural Wisconsin
• majoring in non-technical fields
• working while in college

Source: UW-Madison Academic Planning and Analysis

Published in the Spring 2009 issue