Survey Identifies Multiple Barriers for Aboriginal Students

A new report points to a number of social and economical hurdles an Aboriginal student needs to clear to go to college or university.

The Mesa Project has released a report called “Aboriginals In Post-Secondary Education,” which explores the plight of the aboriginal student.

Their data reveals that Aboriginal students are statistically more likely than non-Aboriginal students to leave in their first or second year of postsecondary studies.

Aboriginal students also typically lack role models who have graduated from college or university, as more than half (55%) of the surveyed Aboriginal students lacked a parent who had graduated from postsecondary studies. Whereas only 38% of non-Aboriginal students said they were first-generation students.

At the financial end, despite Aboriginal students typically receiving greater amounts of government aid to study, they were found far less likely to have savings put aside for education. This stat is amplified by the fact that Aboriginal students are more likely to have to relocate to go to college or university, with higher expenses to do so.

The survey’s findings are based on the Longitudinal Survey of Low-Income Students (L-SLIS) which followed over 10,000 student aid recipients (only 81 of which were of Aboriginal decent or belief) for three years.

The MESA Project has also released statistics surrounding rural or urban students, as well as the differences between male and female students.