Academic Success for First Generation College Students by Being Involved in Extracurricular Activities

One in five students are the first in their families to attempt or earn a college degree therefore it is highly important to consider the characteristics, experiences, and commitments that each student will bring to college. One of the things that first generation students must tackle is being able to exist in two different worlds at once (Mitchell 1997). Those worlds are the one at home and the one in school. Many first generation students are forced to have multiple roles while attempting to attend college and the stress it puts on them is sometimes too much to handle. Institutions focus on recruiting students they feel will be most successful or developing programs that support them once they arrive on campus, but it has been argued that institutions will see greater success if both are addressed and strengthened (Wolfert 2016). This research project aims to do just that for Eastern Kentucky University. The overall goal is to find out if being involved in extracurricular activities on campus helps first generation students become more academically successful than non first generation students.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_graduategallery/1066/thumbnail.jp