Supporting and Preparing Future First-Generation College Students in the High School Environment: Implications for School Counselors.

According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) position statement on academic and career planning (2006), "professional school counselors implement academic and career planning based on students' abilities, interests, and goals with the hope of reducing inequities based on stereotypes or special needs, and is an important step towards equal access to postsecondary opportunities" (p. 1). The ASCA National Model (2005) designated individual student planning as a component of the delivery system providing "all students an opportunity to work closely with their parents or guardian to plan, monitor, and understand their growth and development and take action on their next steps personally, educationally, and occupationally" (p.15). Professional school counselors are charged with helping all students, but information is lacking in the specific needs of students who are the first in their family to pursue higher education. This study examined distinctions between First-Generation College Students (FGCS) and Continuing-Generation College Students (CGCS) with respect to academic preparation, college exploration, and the college decision-making process in an effort to assist professional school counselors in establishing data driven interventions to academically prepare and support FGCS as they prepare for post-secondary education.. First-Generation College Students First-generation college students are qualitatively different with regard to their demographic and background variables compared with CGCS. Recent studies posited slightly more than a quarter of high school graduates across the country are FGCS (Owens, Lacey, Rawls & Hobert-Quince, 2010) and close to half of these FGCS came from a lower socioeconomic background (Choy, 2001). More recent studies also supported the likelihood that FGCS come from lower income families (Bui, 2002; Choy, 2001), disproportionately represent ethnic and minority groups (Engle & Tinto, 2008), and are more likely to speak a language other than English in the home (Bui, 2002). In addition, FGCS are more likely to be older, married, and have dependents when compared to CGCS (Choy, 2001; Grimes & Mehta, 2006). Significant differences in academic preparation of FGCS were noted in previous studies and some differences corresponded with persistence once in the college setting. First-generation college students typically have lower grade point averages (GPAs) and lower SAT scores (Prospero & Vohra-Gupta, 2007), and are less likely to take college entrance exams (Warburton, Burgarin, & Nunez, 2001). Past research suggested FGCS were less likely to take advantage of honors programs (Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004) or participate in college preparation courses (Horn & Nunez, 2000). In a longitudinal study following a sample of students with above average skills in math and reading (both FGCS and CGCS), Trusty and Niles (2004) found coursetaking in high school to have the strongest effect in completion of a four-year degree. Choy (2000) reported the highest level of mathematics taken by FGCS in high school (beginning with algebra in eighth grade) exerted the strongest influence in completion of a bachelor's degree. It is also noteworthy that while a lack of academic preparation is not necessarily a barrier to entry for FGCS pursuing post-secondary education, it does correlate with success once enrolled in the college setting (Ishanti, 2003). When it comes to college selection, FGCS demonstrate differences in choice and decisional influences compared with students who have a parent with previous post-secondary experience (Bui, 2002). Due to their own lack of experience, parents of FGCS may be less able or willing to help their student with the planning, application, and decision-making process (Gibbons & Shoffner, 2004). According to Pascarella et al. (2004), "compared to their peers with highly educated parents, first-generation students are more likely to be handicapped in accessing and understanding information and attitudes relevant to making beneficial decisions" (p. …