A Retrospective Illustrative Case Study on the Barriers Facing First Generation College Students and How a Targeted Program Ameliorates these Barriers

First generation college students face a particularly unique set of challenges navigating the college pathway to success. Financial concerns aside, lack of awareness of campus resources and stigmatization that can also be dependent upon race and gender may impede academic performance and impose additional stressors. In a retrospective illustrative case study, barriers facing first generation college students are examined from the vantage point of a community based first generation college scholarship program designed to recruit and retain these students at a private university. Observational and census data are used as analysis. While many such barriers are ameliorated at least in part by this program, staffing and funding constraints prevent it from offering resources to all disadvantaged first generation students at the university