Why are UC schools so good for first-generation college students?

A college degree is still seen as one of the best pathways for personal prosperity and upward mobility. Individuals with a baccalaureate degree earn 75% more on average than those with just a high school diploma, according to The College Payoff, a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Completing college puts graduates in the position to earn a median of $2.8 million over their lifetimes, compared to $1.6 million if they only have a high school diploma, according to that report. College graduates are also more likely to be employed and to enjoy a number of other personal advantages – including better health and civic participation – than those without a college degree.

Completing college puts graduates in the position to earn a median of $2.8 million over their lifetimes, compared to $1.6 million if they only have a high school diploma.

Results like these are why Degreechoices focuses on the return on investment students are likely to receive from attending a given college, and it’s why we pay special attention to colleges and universities that do a particularly good job of educating students from all kinds of backgrounds at an affordable price.

Are UC schools good in terms of educational value for money?

Absolutely. The University of California (UC) provides an excellent example of the upward social and economic mobility that a college can facilitate. Each year UC campuses enroll more than 200,000 undergraduate students. This year, they awarded baccalaureate degrees to more than 65,000 students.

UC’s strength as a vehicle of social and economic mobility is reflected in key statistics about its most recent graduating class – the class of 2023.  That class features large numbers of first-generation college students, community college transfer students, and recipients of need-based financial aid. And as the data show, most of them will go on to earn more than their parents and will have salaries equaling those of their more affluent peers.

In this article, we focus on UC’s success with first-generation college students.

First-generation college students in the UC system: facts and figures

Across the campuses of the University of California, the graduating class of 2023 included more than 27,000 students who were the first generation in their family to earn a college degree. That’s equal to about 41% of UC graduates, and according to the university, it’s a substantially higher share than at other selective public and private institutions (27% and 18%, respectively). It also exceeds the national average of 36%, according to one UC study.

What we know about the nature of first-generation college students in general underscores the importance of this result. According to one recent summary, first-generation college students are a diverse group in several ways, with students from historically marginalized groups tending to be more frequent among first-generation degree-seekers.

Students whose parents did not attend college are more likely to:

• Come from racial minority backgrounds (first-generation students are more likely to identify as non-white; 46% of first-generation students identify as white, compared to 61% for continuing-generation students);
• Identify as female (60%);
• Have dependents (30% of first-generation students had dependents, compared to 16% among continuing-generation students);
• Have served in the military;
• Be older (28% of first-generation college students are age 30 or older, compared to only 16% of continuing-generation college students);
• Come from low-earning households.

Along with its commitment to recruiting and enrolling first-generation students, UC has several programs in place to support those students throughout their college careers. For example, through its financial aid program, UC covers all tuition and fees for California students whose family incomes are $80,000 or less. As a result of this generous financial aid, more than 60% of UC students complete their studies without student debt.

More than 60% of UC students complete their studies without student debt.

More than 43% of graduating UC students received financial help through Pell Grants. Add to that assistance the institutional and state grants-in-aid that are available, and 54% of current UC undergraduates have all tuition and fees covered by grants and scholarships.

And many low-income students also receive additional help paying for housing, books, transportation and food. For example, UC has experimented with pairing first-generation students with “success coaches”, who offer the students advice and support as they navigate their path toward graduation.

UC schools are empowering first-generation students to succeed

According to UC student surveys, the majority of first-generation students report the same level of satisfaction with their UC experiences as their peers. And they graduate at higher-than-average rates. UC’s 6-year graduation rate for first-generation students is 80%, versus the national average for all undergrads at public institutions, which is about 60%.

As one example, take recent UC-Irvine transfer Jessica Cai, who had a strong interest in educational technology, developed in part from her personal experiences.  She attended school online for years to accommodate a busy training schedule in competitive figure skating and dance. By the time she started at Irvine Valley College, she was well-versed in remote learning.

» Read: Should you start out at a community college?

After transferring to UC Irvine, she combined her experience with a facility in media making, pursuing ed tech with several research labs on campus. She even created an online math course for fifth and sixth graders that’s currently being used in 4 Orange County schools. Cai is planning to pursue a Master of Education in the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology program at Harvard.

The prominence of transfer students in the university’s plans is illustrated by UC Davis student affairs chief of staff Lindsay Romasanta’s observation, “First-generation students are no longer an emerging population. It’s our college-going demographic.”

UC Transfer students

Many first-generation students transfer to UC campuses, increasing the representation of nontraditional students, including older learners, veterans, student parents, immigrants, and low-income individuals.  UC enrolls more community college transfer students than any university of its stature in the nation. Its transfer enrollment is about 30%, compared to an average of 18% at selective public and 11% at selective private universities. According to UC, transfers accounted for about 20,000 students in the graduating class of 2023.

» Read: Are public universities better than private colleges?

“Transfer is a great path to a life-changing UC education,” said Han Mi Yoon-Wu, executive director of Undergraduate Admissions. “We want California’s community college students to know we can help them achieve it.”

Like first-generation students, transfer students also enjoy high levels of success at UC. 89% of transfers complete their degree, compared to 86% of UC students who begin as freshmen. Nationally, 55% of community college transfer students go on to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Degreechoices rankings of the University of California campuses

These results are confirmed by our own rankings of the nation’s leading public colleges and universities based on their economic returns to students. Among the top 20 public universities in the US, 4 are UC campuses (Berkeley is 4th; Irvine comes in 8th; UCLA 11th; and San Diego 16th). 3 more are included in the top 50 public schools (Davis is 22nd; Santa Barbara is 26th; and Riverside is 36th).

“A UC degree is a great equalizer,” says Pamela Brown, UC’s Vice President of Institutional Research and Academic Planning in a story on the economic value of a UC degree. “Not only do UC’s low-income students go on to earn more than their parents within just 5 years of graduation, but we see their incomes doubling within 10 years.”

What are the best UC schools?

Our signature methodology, which determines what colleges provide the best value for money, reveals that the best University of California schools are Berkeley, Irvine, and UCLA.

1. University of California Berkeley
2. University of California Irvine
3. University of California Los Angeles
4. University of California San Diego
5. University of California Davis
6. University of California Santa Barbara
7. University of California Riverside
8. University of California Merced
9. University of California Santa Cruz