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The Effects Of First Generation College Students

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First generation college students are those who are seeking to be the first in their family to earn a degree, according to UCLA. First- generation students can come from low, middle, or high income families without a history of going to college. Families of first generation students can either be supportive of the students plan for a high education or make them feel family pressure to enter the workforce right after high school like they did. First generation students often do not know their options regarding higher education and have fears about going to college and it’s cost. Currently, 42% of UC undergraduates are first generation. Over the past decade, the Latino population in the U.S has grown from 35.3 to 50.5 million. Only 37 …show more content…

The lack of guidance create a chronic stressor during college due to not understanding how to pick courses, how to study for tests, or how to meet professors without guidance. Latino/a first generation college students are also stressed due to financial anxiety. Since, Latino/a first-generation college students come from predominately low socioeconomic status families that never thought about saving money for college, the stress about how to pay for college and tuition arises. Since these students are the first from their family to attend college, academic and financial expectations are increased with the now need to balance school and work in order to pay for their education and basic life expenses. Most low income families will benefit from the FAFSA and government grants; however, if the lack of necessary resources as mentioned above is not present. The guidance of how to fill of the FASA was mostly likely not there. ◦ The anxiety and stress will then increase when students compare themselves with peers. They see that their peers are better off financially; thus, affecting self esteem or belief in success. In this stress one can identify the acute stressor as when the student seeks financial resources on campus. These type of resources can help form a social network to be able to manage financial anxiety. The chronic stressor is if the student keeps comparing themselves to their peers based

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