This paper observe the specificities of the " first generation students " regarding higher education integration in France. University integration and success at the first years of higher education is a very well documented research area. It is well know that undergraduates students or « beginners » students have to adapt to the university teaching and learning, and learn in the first years of studies how to learn and study, and the rules, expectations of this new environnement in comparison to secondary education. This socialization has been analysed in France and it appear to be commun to all undergraduates who experiment several stages: the time of strangeness with the university, new autonomy and methods give way to a progressive integration in the studies (Coulon, 1995 ; Erlich, 1998). This integration in the study, which is related to graduation at the bachelor degree. Although this socialization is commun to all undergraduates, this process of socialisation is related to several factors : students' studies expectation, professional aspiration and university experience are often associated with this integration (Jellab, on 2011).

In addition, the growing demographic diversity of the student body in higher education and mainly university in France has for consequence the increased number of « first-generation students » - students who are the first in their family to attend higher education, from families where neither parent had more than a high-school education. These students are often different compared to other college students in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, secondary school preparation and fields of studies. French recent statistics of ministry of education first generation students have more difficulties at the beginning of higher education: they are more likely to drop out after one year and are less likely to attain a bachelor's degree after five years (Caille and Lemaire, 2009).

Even though we  know about first-generation students with respect to their sociodemographic characteristics, secondary education, the university « choice » process and their graduation, very little is known, in the french context, about their university experiences in the first years of studies. In this paper we thus focus on the analysis of their specific university socialization and experience. Our objective is thus to quantify the effect of first generation students status on higher education experience and succes. The theoretical perspective for understanding the potential effects of first-generation student status on the experience is cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1964) and social capital (Coleman, 1988). Cultural capital  is the familiarity with the university culture that first generation students do not possess ; social capital is relationship that helps the transmission of resources like family members and highly educated parents. Regarding these theories suggest that first-generation students are less likely to access and understand university expectations and rules because they don’t have any ressources or relationship to help them in this stage of stangeness in the socialization of "begginers" students. We thus focus on the first 3 years (before first graduation) of higher education to compare first generation students with their peer in their university experience and graduation.We assume that if the first generation students experience differ a lot in comparison to their peers in the first years, it is an explaination to their probality of dropping out or to stop studies after bachelor graduation. But we also assume that after the first graduation the differences between first generation students and others are less and less important. 

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