It’s Title IX. Colleges can’t afford unknown quantity poor boys anymore because they have to subsidize girls’ sports as per Obama’s gender feminist appointees’ diktats. That is the only thing that could explain this precipitous drop during the Obama administration. Notice that although girls were not as impacted as boys, only girls’ volleyball and tennis (and boys’ swimming for some reason — Michael Phelps hopefuls? Gay male preference for the sport? who knows—) included more first gens over the next five years. Kinda looks like wealthy people did some more WINNING! under Obama as usual.