Michelle Obama Quotes

I was the first in my family to go to college.

I am a firm believer in education and have worked very hard to tell young Latinos that they must go to college and that, if possible, they should pursue an advanced degree. I am convinced that education is the great equalizer.

Our family story here is one that we're proud of, and that is that, as the ninth of 10 kids in our family, I was the first who, right out of high school, was able to go to four-year college... it was a big moment in our family's life.

They were often the first students in their family to go to college and the very idea of higher education was still foreign to them. They had to make a conscious and often difficult decision to come to college.

The best escalator to opportunity in America is education.

Education is an incredibly personal issue for me. If you're the first generation to go to college, sometimes you don't realize your potential until others point it out.

We have a foundation, the Soledad O'Brien Starfish Foundation. We send girls to and through college. We started-off saying we send girls to college, but to do so is not enough. Seeing them through college is the key.

I want my kids to graduate from high school. But that's not enough. I also want them to go to college. Why? Because rich people's kids go to college. And if that's good enough for them, it's good enough for my kids. Because you know what? College graduates don't tend to go to jail as frequently as nongraduates.

No one in my family had ever even gone to college.

President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.

I'm not saying everyone must go to college. What I'm saying is that every student in Texas, no matter how poor, deserves options. They must be taught to believe they can and will graduate from high school with grades good enough to succeed in trade school, in community college, or in any university in America, including Harvard, Yale, UT or A&M.

Michelle and I—we’re where we are today only because scholarships and student loans gave us a shot at a great education.

The opportunities of America opened out to me the public schools. They carried me to the professional training of an American university. I began by working with my own hands for my daily bread.

I was the first in my family to go to college, and so, growing up, I thought that dressing well opened doors.

Everybody has a way to get to college. You study in high school, you do your work. There are always grants or loans that can be available. I guarantee you - if you want it, you can get it. Don't close the door on yourself.

A university education is a privilege, but we should be proud that in Britain it is also a right, no matter what your income or class or ethnic background.

I was raised in inner-city Liverpool, the first in my family to go to university.

I don't come from a lot, so Disney gave me the opportunity to go to college, which is great. My brother and I are some of the first in our family to ever do that.

I was the only kid out of six of us to go to college, primarily because my parents could not afford it.

We have a responsibility to ensure that every individual has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, from prekindergarten to elementary and secondary, to special education, to technical and higher education and beyond.

The first big break was winning a scholarship to go to Cambridge University. I was very lucky, because my parents couldn't have afforded a university education for me. Without a scholarship I couldn't possibly have gone.

I tell my grandchildren - I've got seven of them - to go to college and get that degree first. I could have stayed in college and still recorded. Isn't that something? The kids of today are doing it.

The College Access and Opportunity Act addresses the important need to make higher education more affordable and easier to access for low and middle-income students.

We can't accept that it's O.K. if only some kids get to go to college.

My youngest uncle Randy and I were the first members of our entire family to ever go to college.