第一代大學生，即父母沒有受過大學教育的大學生，獲得美國學術界和政府機構的關注，在台灣則尚未受到注意，因此，本文以台灣高等教育資料庫94 學年度大一學生問卷調查為分析資料，探討台灣第一代大學生的背景和特質。本研究主要發現如下：相較於其他學生，第一代大學生女性、低收入戶的比例較高，父親是外省人的比例較低；他們就讀技職體系和私立學校的比例較高，入學前的學業成就較低；在選校和選系時，他們比較重視經濟因素、學校地理位置因素、務實因素，對朋友同學的建議重視程度較高；他們重視的人生目標和其他學生不同，未來規劃要再念國內外研究所的比例較低。這些背景和特質基本上與美國第一代大學生相似，大部份可用文化資本和社會資本的概念去理解。

American researchers, and in particular the National Center for Educational Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, have found first-generation college students (FGCSs)--students whose parents are not college-educated--to be dissimilar from more traditional college students, and to be at a disadvantage in several respects. To understand whether FGCSs in Taiwan face a similar situation, this study investigated the backgrounds and characteristics of FGCSs in Taiwan. Using data drawn from the 2005 Freshman Survey in the Taiwan Higher Education Database, this study compared FGCSs with non-FGCSs on five issues. The major findings were as follows: First, the FGCSs in Taiwan, as compared with the "traditional" college students in Taiwan, were more likely to be female, to come from low-income families, and to be less likely to have a father who came from mainland China. Second, FGCSs were more likely to be on the vocational and technical track rather than the general education track, and to study at private colleges and universities. Third, FGCSs on average got lower scores on the standardized college entrance tests. Fourth, in choosing schools and majors, FGCSs were concerned more about costs and scholarships, school locations and job opportunities, and less about a school's prestige or their own academic interests and abilities. Fifth, Taiwan's FGCSs placed greater importance on "being successful in one's own business" and "having a happy family," and cared less about goals associated with wealth, achievement, status, and spiritual life. They were less likely to pursue advanced study after they graduated. The backgrounds and characteristics of FGCSs in Taiwan turned out to have much in common with their American counterparts, and supported expectations based on "cultural and social capital" concepts.