Hispanic student enrollments reach new highs in 2011

The nation’s Hispanic student population reached a number of milestones in 2011, according to an analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center.

For the first time, the number of 18- to 24-year-old Hispanics enrolled in college exceeded 2 million and reached a record 16.5 percent share of all college enrollments.  For the first time, Hispanics are the largest minority group among the nation’s four-year college and university students.

In the nation’s public schools, for the first time, one-in-four public elementary school students were Hispanic. Among all pre-K through 12th grade public school students, a record 23.9 percent were Hispanic in 2011.

Today, with the high school completion rate among young Hispanics at a new high, more young Hispanics than ever are eligible to attend college. According to the Pew Hispanic analysis, 76.3 percent of all Hispanics ages 18 to 24 had a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) degree in 2011. And a record share—nearly half (45.6%)—is enrolled in two-year or four-year colleges.

Over the past four decades, the number of Hispanics graduating with either an associate or a bachelor’s degree has increased seven-fold, with growth outpacing that of other groups. As a result, not only has the number of Hispanic degree recipients grown, so too has their share of all college degree recipients. Even so, the number of Hispanics awarded college degrees lags that of other groups, and their share of college graduates remains below that of all college student enrollments.

The Hispanic share among degree recipients from two-year and four-year colleges has also reached a record. In 2010, 8.5 percent of all bachelor’s recipients were Hispanic, up from 8.1% in 2009. Among all associate degree recipients, 13.2 percent were Hispanic, also a record. While the number of Hispanics receiving a college degree has grown, the number of degrees conferred on Hispanics trails other groups.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanic Student Enrollments Reach New Highs in 2011, August 20, 2012.