First-gen: the first to attend Between growing up in Southeast Ohio and being on the Athens campus to visit her mom’s workplace in Chubb Hall, Chais Michael always knew she wanted to attend Ohio University. Soon after applying in 2014, she got a postcard in the mail. It read, “Join OHIO First Scholars.” “It never clicked in my mind until that moment that I was going to be the first one in my family to go to college,” Michael said. Launched in 2014, the OHIO First Scholars program supports first-generation students, defined by the University as students with no parent/guardian who has earned a bachelor’s degree. Higher education institutions have taken note of “first-gens,” who constitute nearly 50 percent of all university students (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).
Chais Michael, LEFT, with mentor and OHIO staff Mitzi Trentacoste, MA ’17. Photo by Corey Cale, BSVC ’19
“I’m proud to be first-gen. It’s finding those connections and support and realizing there are others like you.” –Chais Michael, BSCFS ’19
On six of OHIO’s eight campuses, they represent at least 30 percent of the undergraduate student body. OHIO First Scholars Program Director Angela Lash, herself a first-gen, says these students contribute to OHIO’s diverse culture.
THE RISE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
1974: 10.2
Public and Private Institutions (1944-2017) Since the passing of the G.I. Bill in 1944, college enrollment has increased by 1600%. 1944: 1.2
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G.I Bill passed
Opened doors to college education for WWII veterans.
1946: 1.7
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Almost half of enrolled students were veterans under provisions of the G.I. Bill.
1944
1.2 million
enrolled students
1965: 5.9
M
Higher Education Act passed 1954: 2.4
M
A broad federal policy agenda for higher education is established.
Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka
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Enrollment declines by 175K between 1975-1976, the first drop since 1951.
1970: 8.6
M
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Equal Educational Opportunities Act passed Requires schools to remove barriers to equal student participation.
1961: 4.1
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More than four million students are enrolled in higher education.
Graphics & layout by Chance Brinkman-Sull, BSVC ’17, MA ’19 Sources: The Chronicle of Higher Education, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
WINTER 2018 G O O D W I L L
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Department of Education created
Public universities enroll three times as many as private institutions.
1976: 11
Supreme Court rules that “separate but equal” educational facilities are unconstitutional.
1979: 11.6