Abstract:
This dissertation explores the role of parents in freshman, first generation scholarship recipients’ access to higher education. Three overarching goals guide the research: To gain knowledge and a better understanding of the college choice process of freshman, first generation scholarship recipients; to better understand the role of parents in the college choice process of these students; to utilize that knowledge to inform the practice of college and university admissions offices in improving access to higher education for other first generation college students. This dissertation does this by addressing three research questions: What perceptions do first year, first generation scholarship recipients at The University of Alabama have about the role their parents played in their decision-making process to pursue post-secondary attendance; What perceptions do first year, first generation scholarship recipients at The University of Alabama have about the role their parents played in their decision-making on what institutions to consider attending; What perceptions do first year, first generation scholarship recipients at The University of Alabama have about the role their parents played in their ultimate decision to matriculate at a post-secondary institution. Grounded in the work of Hossler and Gallagher (1987), the study evaluates the college choice process utilizing the three distinct phases of the Hossler and Gallagher (1987) Three-Phase Model of College Choice.
