National Data Fact Sheets

National Data Fact Sheets on First-generation College Graduates

Through generous support from the Crimsonbridge Foundation and a data partnership with RTI International, these fact sheets provide national statistics about first-generation college graduates’ transition to graduate school and employment in the year after earning a bachelor’s degree. They also show the extent to which first-generation college graduates had used career planning services and participated in extracurricular and co-curricular activities when they were undergraduate students, activities that can help individuals prepare for graduate school and employment. Some statistics are shown separately by race/ethnicity and age.

When considering how the statistics in these fact sheets may relate to the students at your institution, please read the footnotes for important information, including definitions of key terms and the data source. The average profile of students at your institution may be very different from the national sample of college graduates used for these fact sheets.

Note that while the Center recognizes the diversity of definitions represented by the term “first-generation college student/graduate,” in these fact sheets, first-generation college student/graduate is defined as an individual whose parents do not have a bachelor’s degree. .

The data source for these fact sheets is the 2016/17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/17), National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. The survey data represent college graduates who earned a bachelor’s degree in academic year 2015–16 from a Title IV postsecondary institution in the United States. The total sample size is 19,490. “AI, AN, NH, or PI” refers to American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander. “!” means interpret the statistic with caution due to a large standard error. “‡” indicates that data could not be reported due to low sample size or a coefficient of variation of 50 percent or greater.

These fact sheets were produced for the Center by RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute. Accompanying each fact sheet is the respective suggested citation.

These serve as a follow up to the National Data Fact Sheets released in 2019, providing national statistics about first-generation and continuing-generation college student.