First-Generation Students Struggle With Finances, Unsafe Environments, Online Learning Amid Pandemic, New Report Finds – NASFAA
The ongoing pandemic caused by the continued prevalence and spread of the novel coronavirus has been especially trying for first-generation college students, with a new survey finding that the cohort was especially vulnerable to experiencing financial hardships, food and housing insecurity, mental health disorders, and obstacles to transitioning to online courses.
The report, issued by the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium — a research collaboration between several universities, including the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Minnesota — was composed of 28,198 undergraduate students and was conducted from May through July 2020 at nine universities, with 26% of respondents identifying as first-generation students.
Among the primary challenges for first-generation college students was that they were nearly twice as likely to be concerned about paying for the fall semester, with 59% expressing varying levels of concern about their ability to pay for the upcoming term, compared with 32% of their peers who are not the first in their family to attend college.
Students in this cohort were also more likely than their continuing-generation peers (52% vs. 32%) to experience a loss or reduction of income from family members, exacerbating their financial instability.