First-generation students on the rise in Iowa

Unlike most 11-year-olds who spend much of their days learning to read, write and do math, Carol Fischer in sixth grade found herself instead teaching her six younger siblings.

The children recently had been pulled out of public school. They had too many bruises.

'The (Department of Human Services) was always knocking on our door,' recalled Fisher, now 46. 'There was a problem, and they knew it. They (her family) pulled us out of school because it was too hard to deal with.'

Fisher said she and her siblings suffered severe physical and emotional abuse, learning early they were 'stupid and would never amount to anything.' College wasn't even on Fischer's radar until one day she wandered past a booth at the county fair in the Oklahoma city she grew up in. A recruiter hollered at her.

'He said, 'Have you been to college?'' Fisher said. 'I almost blew him off. I said, 'That's only for rich kids.''

That day, Fisher learned she was wrong.

'He said, 'You can do this, and we can help you,'' she said. 'Because of that, I have a doctorate and was on Capitol Hill.' Fischer today is a University of Iowa postdoctoral research fellow who earned her doctorate in oral science from the university in 2013. With two young boys at the time, Fischer started her college career in 2002 at age 33 at East Central University in Ada, Okla., and graduated in 2007.

Her educational achievements were enabled by the federal TRIO program, which focuses on providing opportunities for low-income, first-generation and disabled students. In March, Fischer traveled to Washington, D.C., to promote that program before the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By sharing her story, Fisher said she hoped to inspire more federal funding for a program that's been cut in recent years and to promote support of first-generation students such as herself whose parents did not earn a four-year degree.

'These are really important programs,' she said. 'Without them, people like me who didn't have an education or any way to find these things would just fall through the cracks.'

Push for support

Seven federal TRIO programs exist under the unified mission of helping students overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education. Those programs took a funding hit in 2013 thanks to government sequestration, and today they serve about 95,000 fewer U.S. students than in 2005.

It has about 785,000 students in its programs this year.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama requested a $20 million increase in TRIO funding, bringing its total appropriation to $859.75 million in the next budget year.

'We very much hope that the House can move toward restoring necessary funding for additional students,' Fisher said to lawmakers March 18.

The UI has one of the nation's largest TRIO programs, focused on helping students persist from year to year, remain in good academic standing, and graduate. But the UI program only can serve 350 students at a time due to funding limitations, according to UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck.

Once a student graduates, a slot becomes available for another student.

The demand for such assistance has been on the rise, with two of Iowa's three public universities recently counting more first-generation students, defined as those students whose parents did not earn a four-year degree.

The UI reported 1,532 first-generation freshmen in 2013, up 28 percent from the 1,196 in 2008. First-generation freshmen in 2013 accounted for 35.9 percent of the total UI freshmen, compared to 28.6 percent in 2008.

Iowa State University had 1,605 first-generation freshmen in 2013 — up 19.5 percent from 1,343 in 2010. University of Northern Iowa saw a slight dip — from 393 first-generation freshmen in 2011 to 327 in 2013 — but still counts 2,063 total first-generation undergraduate students, accounting for about 20 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Tom Rodenberg, associate vice president for research strategy at Stamats, a marketing research company, in Cedar Rapids, said first-generation students can be hard to track and target, as they typically are self-identified. But, he said, students in certain ethnic groups and income categories more often correlate with the first-generation status.

And those populations are increasing in Iowa. Iowa's Hispanic population, for example, is expected to grow from 5.9 percent of the total in 2000 to 12.1 percent of the total by 2020, according to statewide population trends provided by the Iowa Legislature.

Meanwhile, its white, non-Hispanic, population is expected to drop from 92.6 percent of the total in 2000 to 87.2 percent in 2020.

In addition to federal programs, each of Iowa's public universities has initiatives that cater to first-generation students — providing support for financial and ancillary needs.

Changing the 'educational culture'

That additional support was imperative for Fischer, who said she began her college career having last received any type of formal education in sixth grade.

'That means you have a lot of catch-up to do,' Fisher said.

She had never been in a science class before, and her first experience in one jumped out at her. Professors noticed her interest and skill and pushed her forward — with assistance from the federal program.

Despite being the single mother of two young boys at the time, Fischer graduated in Oklahoma, moved her family to Iowa and continued her educational endeavors. Today, she's about one year from completing her postdoctoral work, her older son is a UI senior studying music education, and her younger son is UI-bound, with plans to major in pre-pharmacy.

'This has changed the educational culture in my family,' she said. 'My sons can see that if you dream big and work hard, you can accomplish big things.'