SUPPORTING FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS: PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR ROLES IN THE COLLEGE ADMISSION PROCESS

Abstract

This qualitative single-case study examined how parents/legal guardians of first-generation college students (FGCS) describe their role in supporting their students through the college admissions process and how students perceive and experience that support. Grounded in Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework, this study challenges deficit-oriented narratives that position first-generation families as lacking the knowledge necessary to support college access. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with parents/legal guardians and their students who had recently completed the admissions process. Using a single case study approach and multi-cycle coding, the analysis identified key themes across participant experiences.Findings demonstrate that parents/legal guardians were active and engaged participants in the admissions process, drawing on aspirational, familial, social, and navigational capital to support their students. Families fostered early college-going expectations, provided consistent emotional encouragement, and engaged in collaborative problem-solving alongside their students, highlighting college navigation as a shared family process rather than an individual endeavor. Institutional and community-based supports, including school counselors and college access programs, served as critical mediators in this process. Students described internalizing familial aspirations while also exercising agency in navigating admissions systems. These findings reframe family involvement as relational, culturally grounded, and asset-based, with implications for more family-inclusive college access practices and policies that reduce structural barriers while recognizing diverse forms of family engagement.