The Brief

Across California’s public colleges and universities, one nearly universal admissions factor — first-generation status — is still up to debate because no one can agree how to define it.

The phrase “first-generation college student” is about the education level of a students’ parents and it’s a key predictor of that student’s success in school. For years, California schools have used first-generation college status as a means to boost campus diversity, especially after voters banned affirmative action in 1996. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 29 decision to end race-conscious admissions nationwide, the term is top of mind.

It’s more than semantics: For those who lack support from family to navigate college, the term “first generation” encompasses an experience, a part of their identity, and in some cases, access to targeted state and federal services. In the Inland Empire, first-generation students can receive thousands of dollars worth of tutoring and support through high school and college — if they meet a certain definition.

But these contradicting definitions leave some students unsure what first-generation means and how they should proceed.

Who counts as a first-generation college student?

The University of California boasts a higher percentage of first-generation students compared to the community college system, which uses a more restrictive definition of the term. The UC system defines a first-generation student as anyone whose parents did not receive a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, while the California Community College Chancellor’s Office defines it as any student whose parents never attended college at all.

Cal State, meanwhile, includes numerous definitions on its website. In one scenario, 31% of CSU students are considered first-generation; according to another definition, 52% are.

It’s a national problem. In one 2018 study, researchers surveyed 7,300 students using eight different definitions for the term “first-generation student.” Using one definition, 22% of students were considered first-generation; according to another definition, 77% were.

“There’s nothing really clear and centralized,” said Sarah Whitley, who serves as the vice president at the Center for First-Generation Student Success, a national nonprofit and advocacy organization. “It’s something that we’re hoping to get to, but the data is just so messy everywhere.”

Mateo Fuentes’ parents immigrated from El Salvador where his father dropped out after middle school. Fuentes’ mother enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College, a community college in the Inland Empire, after they arrived in the U.S., but she left before completing her associate degree.

Fuentes qualifies as a first-generation student under the UC definition, but not under the requirements set by the Community College Chancellor’s Office.

He said it’s an unfair distinction. Even though his mother attended college, he said she was unable to help him navigate the system when he applied to college in his senior year of high school and eventually enrolled at UC Davis.

To the Community College Chancellor’s Office, calling Fuentes a first-generation student disregards the education that his mother received: Even students who drop out before obtaining their associate degree may receive certifications, such as for many healthcare or trade professions.

In an email to CalMatters, community college spokesperson Paul Feist said any definitions that exclude associate degrees and certificates — including the UC definition — “inaccurately and unfairly assumes that such experiences are not college.”

Other students who may qualify as first-generation status never appear in the state’s data. They may not know their parents’ education, they may decline to share it, or there may be challenges in data collection.

For example, a little more than one in five enrolled students in the 2021-22 academic year did not report their parents’ education, according to the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. At the CSU system, it’s one in 10, and in the UC system, it’s about 3%.

Details get ‘tricky’ as colleges diverge 

In many cases, individual schools use their own definitions.

For example, the UC system requires that students seeking first-generation status have parents without a four-year degree. But UC Riverside and a grant-based program at UCLA have a more expansive definition: If their parents have a degree from another country, the student still counts as first-generation.

Whitley says colleges and universities in California and other states along the U.S.-Mexico border are shifting to this new definition to encompass students whose parents may not have “the cultural capital” to help their child navigate higher education.

“It’s tricky,” she said. “You don’t want to get into the business of saying, ‘Well, a degree from Canada is okay, but a degree from Nigeria is not.’”

Like UC Riverside, community colleges including El Camino College in Torrance and Mt. San Antonio College use the more beneficial definition, only considering degrees from U.S. institutions.

However, the Community College Chancellor’s Office, which controls most student data, doesn’t differentiate which country the degree came from, meaning that El Camino College and Mt. San Antonio College are incorrectly reporting the number of first-generation college students on their campuses.

Some community colleges disregard their chancellor’s office and consider the children of those who received certificates or associate degrees at community colleges — that is, the children of their own alumni — as first-generation students, so long as neither parent ever received more than an associate degree in their lifetime.

State, federal definitions add to disarray

There’s no specific consequence for an individual college or university that defies the definition of its state leaders. However, the definition of first-generation can affect admissions and the amount of funding that a school receives or allocates for these students.

While the community college system admits all students, the Cal State and UC systems are more selective. Along with grades, admissions staff conduct a holistic review of each applicant, which in the case of nearly every one of California’s selective public universities includes explicit consideration of the education level of the student’s parents or guardians.

UC spokesperson Ryan King said all UC campuses use the same definition of first-generation student for the purposes of admissions. A spokesperson for the CSU Chancellor’s Office, Amy Bentley-Smith, said that individual CSU campuses have the option to use the data that their office collects however they choose in admissions.

Students who meet the federal definition of first-generation — those whose parents did not receive a bachelor’s degree — can get more than $4,600 annually of targeted support services from a federal program called TRIO as soon as they start high school, according to Victor Rojas, the director of TRIO programs affiliated with Mt. San Antonio College. Once those students enter community college, they receive fewer services, he said, worth less than $2,000.

For the 2022-23 state budget, a committee of state leaders, including current Community College Chancellor Sonya Christian, proposed aligning the community college system’s definition of first-generation student with that of the UC and federal definitions, and tying a substantial portion of a college’s state funding to the number of first-generation students on campus.

Both proposals failed to pass into law, despite receiving support from the governor and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

State funding is not tied to the number of first-generation students at any campus, Feist said.

However, community college administrators pointed to two state grants, Extended Opportunity Programs and Services and the Student Equity and Achievement plans, that indirectly factor in the number of first-generation students on campus because they ask colleges to outline disadvantaged populations that they intend to serve. Unlike the federal TRIO grant, which abides by a strict definition, the state grants give colleges lots of leeway to determine how they want to define a first-generation student.

Finally, some community colleges have directed their own discretionary funds to create programs, such as the First Gen Initiative at El Camino College.

All told, a community college could use one definition of first-generation students for its local programs, another for state grants, and yet another definition for federal grants. The Community College Chancellor’s Office could then use an entirely different definition when reporting the same college’s figures to state legislators or the governor.

Many college officials who spoke to CalMatters were unaware of the Chancellor’s Office definition, or of which definition each of their departments used.

Learning what ‘first-generation’ means, first hand

The words “first-generation” have a lot of power, said Serandra Sylvers, a counselor at El Camino College. When the college updated its definition of first-generation students to include those whose parents received degrees outside of the U.S., she said students who met the new criteria told her it substantiated their feelings of “imposter syndrome.”

Unlike other boxes a student might intuitively check off when applying to colleges, such as questions about race or ethnicity, students say first-generation status is often something they learned later in life but still holds value.

Luciaceleste Garcia, a first-generation college student, photographed at Mt. San Antonio College on July 6, 2023.

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Lauren Justice

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CalMatters

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Luciaceleste Garcia was a first-generation college student who knew that her parents had never gone to college and understood part of why she had been selected to participate in the TRIO program in high school.

But the phrase, “first-generation college student,” didn’t hold special meaning to her until she enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College, where she said she felt unworthy and unprepared at times.

She ultimately hopes to transfer to UCLA, in part because of investments that the university has made towards Latino first-generation students like her.

Fuentes also participated in a TRIO program in high school. He realized that he was a first-generation college student after attending a conference in high school for Latino students, and it has since become a guiding principle for him, even outside of UC Davis: Many of his friends are first-generation and he is spending this summer working with Garcia for TRIO.

Next year, he’ll graduate, but he expects that he’ll always identify as a first-generation college student given his parents’ background and education. He’s grateful to them, but knows there are certain questions he can’t ask: “I can’t just be like, ‘Hey, how do I start investing?’”

That’s a first-generation problem.

As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Councilmember is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.

The 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund would be given back to consumers under the proposal. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.

The motion, introduced Friday by Park and seconded by Councilmember John Lee, says: “The City should do everything within its power to alleviate the financial burden for these residents and businesses in order to facilitate their return and stabilize the Pacific Palisades community.”

Would it make much of a difference? 

Economists told LAist the proposal could help many homeowners mitigate the high cost of rebuilding, but likely wouldn’t tip the scales for under-insured, under-resourced property owners.

“It wouldn't hurt if it's very well designed and easy to use,” said Alexander Meeks, a director at the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “But I'm not sure if it's really going to tackle the scale of the financial challenge that survivors are facing.”

Meeks noted that the tax waiver wouldn’t lower up-front costs such as environmental testing, architectural design and permitting. And it may not help homeowners sourcing raw materials from outside the city.

Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures.

“Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”

What’s next for the proposal? 

The proposed tax relief would not be available to properties that have been sold since the fires started in January 2025.

The motion has been sent to the City Council’s budget and fire recovery committees. If approved by the full council, it would require the city administrative officer, the Office of Finance and the city attorney to report back to the council within 60 days on options for crafting a tax relief plan.

The motion calls for the report to consider factors such as how to minimize the burden of administering the tax relief, what documentation homeowners would have to submit and what it would cost the city to oversee the program.

Senate and House Republican leadership have resurrected a stalled plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a record 47-day funding lapse.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September.

Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.

"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," Thune and Johnson wrote.

The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Johnson called the agreement a "joke" and President Donald Trump declined to publicly endorse the deal. Trump had previously resisted any package that did not include his push to overhaul federal elections known as the Save America Act.

"I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump told reporters last week.

Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.

"For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered."

Trump seemed to bless the revived plan earlier Wednesday, writing on social media that he wants a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement on his desk by June 1.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won't be able to stop us," Trump wrote.

Despite the shutdown, ICE has been minimally impacted because Republican lawmakers approved $75 billion for ICE through another party-line budget reconciliation bill last year.

Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects.

Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS.

"Let's make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on X. "If that's the vote, I'm a NO."

If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.

Claudia Grisales contributed reporting.
Copyright 2026 NPR

California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.

It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.

Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.

But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.

On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.

“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”

State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs.

Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.

“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”

‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’ 

In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.

“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”

Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.

“That means we can get more work done,” he said.

It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.

Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.

“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”

‘A haystack fire’

Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.

Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”

“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.

Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.

But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.

How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.

“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.