User:Djgriffin7/sandbox

A blue-collar scholar is a person who enters into the study and training of higher education as an undergraduate student or someone who is employed in academic and scholarly work to make their professional living, and they comes from a family or background of blue-collar workers. A common term used in understanding student who come from working class, or blue-collar families, is a first generation college student. These students are the first in their immediate family to attend a college or university. There are social impacts and struggles for students in higher-education who come from working class families. In the case of blue-collar scholars who are professors, these people had previous careers that were defined by working-class principles or their parents have careers as blue-collar workers.

Ivy league schools, such as Harvard University, have mechanisms in place to attract diverse students, and those include students from working class families. The University of Alabama has a program referred to Coca-Cola Scholars that provides financial support, mentorship, and organized curriculum to sustain and retain first-generation students.