Choosing to Apply to Graduate School: A Study of First-Generation College Students

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 58
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Graduate Education

Abstract

In the college choice literature, little attention has been paid to parental education and its association with graduate school choice. The few studies examining parental education (see English & Umbach, 2016; Stolzenberg, 1994) have found little or no association between first-generation college students and graduate school attendance. This study uses secondary survey data on graduates from a highly selective, public university to both describe and compare FGCS and non-FGCS in regards to graduate school applications. About one-third of the FGCS sample chose to apply to graduate school after completing a bachelor’s degree. Logistic and OLS regressions found no differences between FGCS and non-FGCS in applications and decision to attend graduate school when controlling for other demographic and academic variables.

Authors

• Nestor Alexis Ramirez, RTI International

• Brooke Midkiff, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• James Ellis, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Cynthia Demetriou, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill

• A. T. Panter, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill