An Asset-Based Approach to First-Generation Student Academic Success: Long-Term Impacts of Participating in a First-Year Seminar

Higher education faculty and administrators have developed various solutions to help support first-generation students during their transition into college, including first-year seminars. This longitudinal quantitative case study sought to add to the research base by investigating the impact of participating in a first-year seminar on academic outcomes, measured by GPA, on a subset of first-generation students during their subsequent four years of school (i.e., across their undergraduate experience). Results contradicted previous findings, discovering no significant impact of participating in the seminar on GPA for first-generation students, as well as no differential impact of participating in the seminar by gender. This article includes recommendations for higher education institutions aiming to better support the needs of first-generation students throughout their college experiences. Key words: first-generation college students, persistence, first-year experience, student success, asset-based framework, strengths-based approach, academic success