Refers to a spectrum of learners who meet different combinations of parents and caregivers, whether they attended college or graduated, what degree they completed, and more factors. Because there are significant differences in knowledge and other resources between students with one parent who earned a bachelor’s degree and students whose parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents went to college, multiple definitions are often used to identify first-generation students:

• Neither parent earned a bachelor’s degree (federal definition)
• One parent earned a bachelor’s degree
• No bachelor’s degrees among living parents (focus on those who can provide support to the student)
• No bachelor’s degrees among caregivers (considers others in the household beyond biological parents such as stepparent)
• No domestic bachelor’s degree among caregivers (degrees from other countries may be less relevant in helping students in the U.S. higher education system)
• No bachelor’s degrees earned by caregivers before the student was born (excludes those who earned degrees more recently and may not yet have received some of the more socioeconomic benefits of a college degree)
• No associate degrees by either parent
• No college attendance by either parent