The College Application Process for First-Generation, Low-Income Students:
Theoretical Perspectives Applying to college can be a life-altering experience full of mixed emotions. While many prospective college students are excited to begin a new chapter in their lives, there are also feelings of confusion and uncertainty of what the future holds. First-generation, low-income prospective college students face unique challenges when trying to find an institution that best suits their needs. Not only do first-generation college students tend to come from a low socioeconomic status and worry more about financial assistance, but less than half end up attending four-year institutions (Bui, 2002). With first-generation, low-income college students …show more content…
Hossler and Gallagher’s theory of college choice states that gender, ethnicity, cultural values, and socioeconomic status influence how students approach the college application process. Students are believed to aspire to go to college based on their parent’s education, peer support, teacher support, geography, high school curriculum, and desired career path (Shaw, Kobrin, Packman, & Schmidt, 2009). Similarly, Arnold, Lu, and Armstrong’s ecological model of college readiness, derived from Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development, created a micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem for college readiness. Additionally, Stanton-Salazar’s social capital framework finds that barriers to trust form between prospective college students and high school faculty when their roles are “inconsistent, contradictory, and ambiguous” (Holland, …show more content…
Holland’s (2015) findings on the student-counselor relationship in high school reflected how students of different backgrounds depend on their counselors in different ways. Bui and Rush’s (2016) research on how parental involvement impacts college attendance determines that parent’s education level has the biggest effect on educational expectations. Shaw et al., (2009) found five different clusters of students who apply to colleges, that each have their own distinct demographic as well as level of involvement in extracurricular activities. Depending on the cluster, students were more or less likely to apply to nonselective, selective, or very selective colleges. Nadelson et al. (2013) discovered that the expectations of first-generation college students varied depending on their age, gender, and home community setting. While most theorists use the behavioral approach to explain the factors that shape the college application process for first-generation, low-income students, Chickering’s theory of student development uses the cognitive approach to explain how students transition as they graduate high school and progress through their college career. Chickering believes that all college students go through seven vectors, consisting of developing competence, managing
Theoretical Perspectives Applying to college can be a life-altering experience full of mixed emotions. While many prospective college students are excited to begin a new chapter in their lives, there are also feelings of confusion and uncertainty of what the future holds. First-generation, low-income prospective college students face unique challenges when trying to find an institution that best suits their needs. Not only do first-generation college students tend to come from a low socioeconomic status and worry more about financial assistance, but less than half end up attending four-year institutions (Bui, 2002). With first-generation, low-income college students …show more content…
Hossler and Gallagher’s theory of college choice states that gender, ethnicity, cultural values, and socioeconomic status influence how students approach the college application process. Students are believed to aspire to go to college based on their parent’s education, peer support, teacher support, geography, high school curriculum, and desired career path (Shaw, Kobrin, Packman, & Schmidt, 2009). Similarly, Arnold, Lu, and Armstrong’s ecological model of college readiness, derived from Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development, created a micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem for college readiness. Additionally, Stanton-Salazar’s social capital framework finds that barriers to trust form between prospective college students and high school faculty when their roles are “inconsistent, contradictory, and ambiguous” (Holland, …show more content…
Holland’s (2015) findings on the student-counselor relationship in high school reflected how students of different backgrounds depend on their counselors in different ways. Bui and Rush’s (2016) research on how parental involvement impacts college attendance determines that parent’s education level has the biggest effect on educational expectations. Shaw et al., (2009) found five different clusters of students who apply to colleges, that each have their own distinct demographic as well as level of involvement in extracurricular activities. Depending on the cluster, students were more or less likely to apply to nonselective, selective, or very selective colleges. Nadelson et al. (2013) discovered that the expectations of first-generation college students varied depending on their age, gender, and home community setting. While most theorists use the behavioral approach to explain the factors that shape the college application process for first-generation, low-income students, Chickering’s theory of student development uses the cognitive approach to explain how students transition as they graduate high school and progress through their college career. Chickering believes that all college students go through seven vectors, consisting of developing competence, managing