“The information gap between those who understand systems and those who don’t is often larger than the talent gap.” That line, from a recent Forbes Business Council column by JP Conte, reframes a familiar problem in higher education. Conte, founder and managing partner of his family office, Lupine Crest Capital, argues that the students most likely to leave college without a degree are often not the ones lacking ability, but the ones lacking access to knowledge that other students absorb from family members who attended college themselves.
The examples he gives are mundane by design. Knowing which financial aid forms matter and when they are due. Understanding how a course sequence affects graduation timelines. Recognizing which extracurricular activities and internships employers actually value. None of that requires unusual intelligence, but all of it requires exposure that first-generation students frequently don’t get at home.
Why the Gap Persists
Conte writes about the structural pressures that compound the problem: students working full-time jobs while carrying a full course load, filling out financial aid paperwork without guidance, and managing family obligations that pull attention away from campus life. He is careful to frame these as circumstances rather than character flaws, pushing back on any suggestion that first-generation students who struggle simply weren’t trying hard enough.
His own background informs the argument. Conte has written that his parents didn’t attend college, giving him direct familiarity with the kind of gap he now writes about as a philanthropist and business leader.
Closing the Gap Deliberately
Rather than leaving the problem as an observation, Conte points to programs that supply the missing information directly, through mentorship, structured after-school support, and college preparation that starts well before senior year of high school. He argues these interventions work specifically because they replace the informal knowledge that a family history of college attendance would otherwise provide.
A Gap That Widens Under Pressure
Conte notes that the information gap tends to widen exactly when students can least afford it, during high-stakes moments like financial aid renewal deadlines or course registration windows, when a wrong turn can cost a semester or a scholarship. Students with family members who attended college often have someone to call when those moments arrive. Students without that resource are left to figure it out under time pressure, and Conte argues that’s precisely where structured programs need to step in with answers rather than general encouragement.
The original column and more of Conte’s writing on education are available through his personal website and Forbes Business Council profile, linked below.
