UCLA Report: Rising Higher Ed Costs Stifling Freshman Students

The escalating costs of higher education are strongly influencing where first-generation college students attend school and even whether they move out of their parents’ home.

Those are among findings of a new University of California, Los Angeles report released today titled, “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2016.”

First-generation college students had nearly identical admissions rates to their first-choice institution, as did students whose parents attended college regardless of whether they finished their degrees — 73.8 percent versus 74.8 percent. Only 52.9 percent of first-generation college students actually enrolled at their first-choice institution, compared with 57.6 percent of continuing-generation students, according to the report.

First-generation students also had higher rates of cost consideration and use the amount of financial assistance as a major factor in college selection. Moreover, 3 out of 5 first-generation students expressed a “very good chance” of getting jobs to help shoulder costs, compared with just under half of continuing-generation students. When that’s taken into consideration, it’s not surprising that about one-quarter of first-generation students reported having “major” concerns about paying for college, compared with less than 11 percent of students whose parents attended college.

“Given the apparent differential influence of financial concerns in first-generation students’ college choice, institutions need to pay particular attention to this demographic both in terms of financial aid packaging and transitioning these students into college, as they represent about 1 in 5 first-time, full-time freshmen nationally,” the report states.

The UCLA report is based on results of an annual survey of incoming undergraduates at four-year colleges and universities around the country. The survey is administered by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), which is housed in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Survey results are based on responses from more than 137,400 first-time, full-time freshmen who enrolled at 184 baccalaureate institutions of different types and academic selectivity.

The cohort of incoming students last fall who identified as having parents who lacked college education was about 18.8 percent. Women made up about 20 percent, men 17 percent. When broken down by race and ethnicity, Latinos were the largest at 57.3 percent and Whites the smallest at 10.5 percent.