When Darrek Harshberger toured California University of Pennsylvania a few years ago, he quickly realized it was where he wanted to attend college.
The school had organizations he was eager to join, a campus that was just the right size and students who made him feel welcome.
“When I toured, you could tell they wanted me here,” he said. “It wasn't like, ‘Oh, just another tour.’ It was like, ‘Darrek, we want you here.’”
The first-generation college student has been able to thrive at the university now known as PennWest California, where he is the student body president, a member and coach in the honors program, and a member of on the student activities board. But the junior from Blair County credits the school community and staff for assisting him along the way.
Finding the right fit is crucial for any student entering college — especially for first-generation students who don’t have relatives to fall back on for guidance — but it’s only one part of a difficult and important decision. Colleges and high schools, though, have resources and support systems available specifically to help those students flourish. School counselors, success coaches, and staff members in enrollment, financial aid and achievement offices work closely with first-generation students before and during their college journeys.
Starting in high school
Students often start thinking about college in high school. That makes high school counselors one of the first people students ask for advice on higher education.
Carrie Woodard, the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ director of student support services for school counselors, said it is important for students to bring their families into the conversation so that they can voice and align expectations.
“Having those types of real conversations with parents and families helps everyone to get on the same page, because at the end of the day we all want the same thing, we want our children to be successful,” Ms. Woodard said.
High school counselors can offer more than just conversation, too.
Counselors can act as an intermediary between students and college support systems, such as federal TRIO programs that provide services to first-generation students on many campuses. And counselors can help students by explaining the different types of financial aid, such as the FAFSA, grants and scholarships.
Financial aid
College enrollment staff are also happy to assist with financial aid, according to Kellie Kane, associate vice provost for enrollment and executive director of admissions at the University of Pittsburgh.
Colleges are able to offer more help with the financial aid process and the admissions process in general because of the emergence of virtual platforms during the pandemic, she said.
“That has been very successful for us to be able to offer that as an opportunity,” Ms. Kane said. “If they're having trouble filling out a FAFSA, they're sharing screens, our team is walking them though filling out the FAFSA. I think it has really opened doors and really made it a little less intimidating.”
Molly Swagler, the University of Pittsburgh’s assistant vice provost for enrollment and executive director of enrollment outreach, encouraged students and families to reach out to their prospective colleges for help before paying people for services that schools already do for free.
For example, Ms. Swagler said, she recently spoke to a family that posted a message on Facebook saying they were excited but nervous for their oldest child to go to college. The family then got a message from someone offering to help them with financial paperwork for $1,800 plus $40 a month the entire time their child was in school.
Ms. Swagler advised the family to cancel the service before they lost much money, but she says she has seen many families fall for the same schemes.
“There are predatory practices happening,” she said. “We, in our world, feel like it's so simple. We do FAFSA stuff every day; we talk about it every day.”
Even with financial aid, paying for school can still be challenging. Certain jobs available to college students can provide more than a salary.
Mr. Harshberger got a job at a Sheetz near the PennWest California campus to help pay for school and found an added benefit — the gas station and convenience store offers scholarships to its employees.
“[Sheetz has] done a really good job at helping me not only stay in school but focus on my schooling and work there,” Mr. Harshberger said.
College fit
Mr. Harshberger’s success in college can be at least somewhat attributed to finding a school where he felt comfortable.
That may look different for everyone, and first-generation students may not even know what it looks like for them at first.
Some students may want to live reasonably close to home, and others may want to get away and have the experience of being on their own. Some students may want to live on campus, while others may prefer to commute.
The best way to narrow down the options is to start looking, Ms. Kane said.
“One of the things that I did was I visited some really small schools, some big schools, some urban schools, all different, private, public, and you get a sense of where you feel comfortable on a campus,” said Ms. Kane, herself a first-generation student.
While campus visits may still be ideal, many schools now offer virtual tours.
Pitt’s website also includes a feature that allows students to take a 360-degree tour of all five of its campuses with virtual reality goggles.
“You can take a look around on your own whenever you want to see the campuses and where you would live, where you would eat, where you would study, kind of get a take on it,” Ms. Swagler said. “We also offer guided tours online as well that our student tour guides will take prospective students and families and guardians on a journey over the internet.”
When making the decision, it’s important for students to remember that their college community will be their support system, so they need it to work for them.
“You're moving away from home; [the school community] becomes a family,” Ms. Kane said. “They become the people you celebrate your highest highs with, and they help pull you up when you hit some of those lows.”
Still, making the wrong decision doesn’t have to be the end for students. Transferring to a different school is becoming more and more common, according to Ms. Kane.
“There is a lot of pressure on all students getting ready to go to college, in particular that first generation, because if they don't feel that fit that people talk about, then there's a pressure like, 'How do I find that fit?’” she said.
Getting on campus
Once a first-generation student picks a school and is accepted, support systems should continue.
Schools in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education pride themselves on assisting first-generation students from Day One.
Melissa Dunn, PennWest’s director of student development, said the university has a “very calculated” communication plan for first-year and transfer students.
“From the moment they are committed, we stay in communication with them all the way through their first six weeks at the university,” Ms. Dunn said. “We're checking in, we're doing surveys, we're providing lists of things that they can participate in while they are on campus, we're providing resources that they can use while they are on campus.”
The school also uses a software program called Starfish that connects students to their support system, including their faculty adviser, assigned success coach, career and professional development coach, and others.
Students can use the system to reach anyone in their network, or they can “raise their hand” 24 hours a day to get help from the student outreach and success office, led by executive director Jill Loop.
“Being able to raise their hand and just plug in 100 words and click submit at 2 in the morning somehow seems easier than trying to seek out an office or going to wherever they need to go,” Ms. Loop said. “And once we've managed to give them that introduction, the next steps sort of become a little easier for them.”
At PennWest and across the State System, many employees identify themselves as first-generation students in their email signature, a class syllabus or an introduction, according to Ms. Dunn. Those things can help build support networks for first-generation students, she said.
“We — as a university, as a whole — really stress to be outward, tell the students your background, share with students you're just like them and you've been in their shoes at one point or another,” Ms. Dunn said.
Finding success
While some aspects of college may not come as easily to first-generation college students as others, education professionals said they have seen plenty of success stories.
“First-generation students are bright and resilient and strong and capable, but sometimes first-gen students are at a disadvantage because there are just some things that they might be unaware of when it comes to college life, and they may underestimate their abilities and their skills,” Ms. Woodard said. “But they need to know that they are just as capable and able to succeed as other students.”
Mr. Harshberger said at times it seems easy for first-generation students to quit. But with the resources that are available and the people who are there to help, they can prosper.
“It seems so easy to give up, and it seems like that could be the best thing for you is to just give up, you're not going to have to owe the money and all that stuff — but don't,” he said. “Whether you feel like you're not going to make a difference, you are. Just going to college and being that person, you're going to make a difference within your life.”
Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com.
First Published: October 4, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
