Reflecting their weaker high school academic preparation, many first-generation students needed remedial assistance after they enrolled in college. A majority of first-generation students (55 percent) took some remedial courses during their college years, compared with 27 percent of students whose parents held a bachelor’s or advanced degree (table 3). In particular, 40 percent of first-generation students took remedial mathematics courses, and 13 percent took remedial reading courses, compared with 16 and 6 percent, respectively, of students whose parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The higher need for remedial education among first-generation students was apparent in many major fields of study.