Living On Campus: Benefits for First-Generation Students from Low-Income Backgrounds

The results of this research suggest that first-generation students from low-income backgrounds may experience some benefits from living on campus during their first year of enrollment. Specifically, we found that living on campus is positively associated with students’ feelings of belonging on campus and their resilience. We also found that living on campus was associated with a reduction in students’ beliefs that their campus was discriminatory, hostile, or unwelcoming. Many first-generation students or students from low-income backgrounds may live off campus while enrolled in their colleges or universities so that they can stay close to family members. Others may need to live off campus due to the high expense of room and board or due to their work or family obligations. Given some of the benefits derived from living on campus, we recommend that institutional leaders take steps to encourage students to live on campus through offering scholarships, cost waivers, or expanded employment programs that help students pay for room and board fees while also helping students to earn a living wage. Additionally, we recommend that campus leaders expand programs to encourage family involvement on campus, offer more free or heavily-discounted childcare opportunities, and increase students’ wages to make it possible for them to work on campus in an area closer to their academic pursuits or intended career pathway (as opposed to working off-campus in higher-paying jobs potentially not connected to students’ academic majors or future career pathways). For public universities, opportunities should be explored to provide first-gen students affordable housing as a family unit at least in close proximity to campuses. We also advocate that housing administrators offer professional development opportunities for staff (including resident assistants or residential leaders) to help them understand some of the challenges first-generation students from low-income backgrounds encounter in higher education, especially the barriers that students experience during their first-year transition to higher education. Another suggestion we have for institutions of higher education is to reevaluate the resources and funding that are available to students who possess some amount of privilege in the college environment, namely legacy students. To have a parent or guardian that has already earned a degree in higher education provides a benefit to continuing generation students by simply having knowledge of navigating higher education. Such benefits have an opportunity to flourish further as prospective students may be rewarded for attending their parents’ alma mater. However, we advocate for equity involving all students in the realm of higher education, and more reallocation of funding to students from more disadvantaged backgrounds than more advantaged counterparts. Finally, we recommend that housing administrators and residential life staff offer programming and services tailored specifically to first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds to help students navigate higher education systems; connect with peers from similar prenatal education, income, or social class backgrounds; and provide opportunities for these students to share their personal experiences with others. The challenges that first-generation students from low-income backgrounds experience during their first year in higher education go beyond financial challenges—often, these students experience cultural challenges as they transition to higher education. Housing professionals, including peer advisors or resident assistants, are well-positioned to help students navigate those cultural barriers to become successful in their transition to higher education.The results of this research suggest that first-generation students from low-income backgrounds may experience some benefits from living on campus during their first year of enrollment. Specifically, we found that living on campus is positively associated with students’ feelings of belonging on campus and their resilience. We also found that living on campus was associated with a reduction in students’ beliefs that their campus was discriminatory, hostile, or unwelcoming.The research is sponsored by the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International, the ACUHO-I Research & Education Foundation, and National Association of College and University Residence Halls