Project First Gen+ @ UVA
Project First Gen+ @ UVA
First Gen Student Profile 2018
We have de-identified data on first-gen students enrolled in degree-seeking undergraduate programs in Fall 2018. The data is a subset of what can be found on the University of Virginia institutional assessment page, but in the original format so that we can more easily examine a set of characteristics among first-gen students, including: academic year, admission as first year or transfer student, gender, race and ethnicity, residency (in-state, out-of-state), school, and whether a student is eligible for Pell.
To give a sense of the data and provoke ideas about how else we might like to slice this data, below are the distributions across each of the above characteristics (both the count and percent of first-gen students by each characteristic) and, when available, the rate of first-gen students relative to the total Fall 2018 enrollments
As percent of first-gen students
For the following figures, we can only see the distribution of each characteristic (academic year, admission type, and Pell-Grant eligibility) within the population of first-gen students.
As percent of first-gen students and percent of total students.
For the following characteristics – gender, race and ethnicity, residency type, and school – we can compare the distribution of the characteristic within the 2018 first-gen student population and the proportion of all students at UVA within a category that are first-gen students.
Gender
Women make up 56% of all first-gen students at UVA. Among undergraduate students who are women at UVA, 11% are first-generation students; among undergraduate students who are men, 10% are first-generation students.
Race & Ethnicity
The racial and ethnic distribution of first-gen students at UVA follows the racial and ethnic composition of UVA students overall. Looking at all UVA students categorized as belonging to an identified racial or ethnic group, first-gen students are more likely to be concentrated in the black and Hispanic student populations.
Residency
Just under three-quarters of first-gen students at UVA are in-state students. Among all in-state students at UVA, 12% are first gen; among all out-of-state students at UVA, 10% are first gen.
School
The vast majority of first-gen students, like all UVA students, are enrolled in degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences (including students who have yet to declare a major). More telling is the percent of each School’s student enrollments who are first-generation students (the second figure). The Nursing School stands out for attracting a higher concentration of first-generation students. The College, Architecture School, Education School and Engineering School have first-gen representations near the overall university rates. The Commerce School and the Batten School stand out for the lower presence of first-generation students among their majors.
