<p>U.S. Dept of Ed says: " First Generation Students in Postsecondary Education: A Look at their College Transcripts
Description: This report uses data from the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS) of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to examine the majors and coursetaking patterns of students who are the first members of their families to attend college (referred to as “first-generation students” in this report)"</p>
<p>College scholarships.org says: " First in Family Scholarships
Are You the First in Your Family to Attend College?
For many students going to college is just as much about changing things for themselves as it is for their families. When no one before you in your family has gone to college, there are more than the typical challenges to overcome."</p>
<p>I completely agree there is a difference between attending college and graduating college, and wording of the question is important. But I can not agree grandparents are not family.
Maybe if the college questionaire said “immediate family” then I could see it didn’t mean grampa. Without “immediate” then family before the student includes Grammy too.</p>
<p>Logically, it doesn’t make sense a college would ask: “Are you the first generation to attend college?” if all that they really meant was: “did your parents attend college?”
Look at the second source’s quote- when “no one before you in your family…” it would have been SO much easier to say “if your parents didn’t attend…” if that was what they meant.</p>
<p>Clearly if Grampa attended college, but neither of student’s parents did, then attending college skipped a generation. But by the very definition of skipping a generation, if it skipped a generation, then the student can’t be the very first generation.</p>