Posts Tagged: college completion
5 facts about Latinos and education
Hispanics cited education as a top issue in 2014, ranking alongside the economy and above health care and immigration in importance, a Pew Research Center survey found.
Economic factors remain an obstacle for enrollment, however. In a 2014 National Journal poll, 66% of Hispanics who got a job or entered the military directly after high school cited the need to help support their family as a reason for not enrolling in college, compared with 39% of whites.
Here are five facts about Latinos and education:
- Over the past decade, the Hispanic high school dropout rate has dropped dramatically. The rate has reached a record low, dropping from 32% in 2000 to 14% in 2013 among those ages 18 to 24 years old. Over the same time period, this has helped lower the U.S. national dropout rate from 12% to 7% – also a record low. However, the Hispanic dropout rate remains higher than it is among blacks (8%), whites (5%) and Asians (4%).
- Hispanics are making big inroads in college enrollment. The number of Hispanics ages 18 to 24 enrolled in a two- or four-year college has more than tripled since 1993. In 2013, 2.2 million Hispanics were enrolled in college, up from 728,000 in 1993 – a 201% increase. By comparison, college enrollment increased by 78% among blacks and 14% among whites over the same time period. Today, Hispanics are the largest minority group on U.S. college campuses.
- Even though more Hispanics are getting a postsecondary education than ever before, Hispanics still lag other groups in obtaining a four-year degree. In 2013, among Hispanics ages 25 to 29, just 15% of Hispanics have a bachelor's degree or higher. By comparison, among the same age group, about 40% of whites have a bachelor's degree or higher (as do 20% of blacks and 60% of Asians). This gap is due in part to the fact that Hispanics are less likely than some other groups to enroll in a four-year college, attend an academically selective college and enroll full-time.
- Another reason Hispanics lag in bachelor's degrees is that nearly half who go to college attend a public two-year school, the highest share of any race or ethnicity. By comparison, among college-goers, 30% of whites, 32% of Asians and 34% of blacks go to a community college.
- Hispanics are significantly less likely than other groups to have student debt. About 22% of young Hispanic households (those headed by someone younger than 40) have education loans. The share is nearly twice as high among young white households (42%) and young black households (40%). This is because, despite growing college enrollment, young Hispanics are not as likely to go to college as some other groups. And among those who do, Hispanics are more likely than others to attend community colleges, which generally have lower tuition than four-year schools.
Source: Pew Research Center, 5 facts about Latinos and education, by Jens Manuel Krogstad, May 26, 2015.
California failing to produce enough Latino college grads: Future of state economy in jeopardy
The report finds that more Latinos are earning high school diplomas and entering college, but remain underrepresented in every segment of higher education and have significantly lower levels of college degree attainment than other racial/ethnic groups. In fact, only 12% of Latino working-age adults (between 25- and 64-years old) have a bachelor's degree compared with 42% of White adults.
The report asserts that statewide public policies and college and university practices are major barriers to Latino students completing college. A broken college remedial education system, admissions policies that bar the consideration of race/ethnicity, state disinvestment in higher education, and the absence of a statewide plan for higher education are several of the factors contributing to low degree attainment rates for Latinos.
The good news is that Latinos are now more likely to have a high school diploma and complete the college preparatory A-G courses than in years past. They are enrolling in college in larger numbers and are more likely to graduate with a college degree than two decades ago. Each new generation of Latino Californians is more educated than previous ones.
But overall, the educational attainment of the Latino population lags other racial/ethnic groups. Too few Latino students are being prepared to enter college when less than one in three (29%) Latino high school graduates complete the coursework necessary to be eligible applicants to the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems. Even when prepared, eligible applicants are still finding it challenging to secure a spot at some of the state's public universities. At the UC, for example, admission rates for Latinos have declined by 28 points since 1994. Once on a college campus, Latino students, many of whom are first in their families to go to college, do not receive the supports and guidance to transfer and earn a degree on time. The six-year completion rates for Latinos at the California Community Colleges and the California State University, where 76% of Latinos are enrolled, are 39% and 45%, respectively.
The results of the study come as the California economy is facing a shortage of college graduates. “Workforce preparedness continues to be one of the top concerns for the business community. “The State of Higher Education in California – Latino Report” demonstrates the critical need to better prepare Latino students to achieve academic success that meets the demands of our global economy,” said Rob Lapsley, President of the California Business Roundtable. “If we are going to remain competitive, our colleges and universities must do better to address the ongoing barriers that jeopardize Latino students' ability to complete their education and succeed in our 21st Century workplace.”
“The future of our economy and the state will rise or fall on the educational success of Latinos,” said Michele Siqueiros, President of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “When you realize that one in two children under 18 is Latino and that California is going to face a shortage of 2.3 million college educated workers in the next ten years, then you have to care about increasing the number of Latino students who are prepared for, enroll in and graduate from college.”
California's colleges and universities are not adapting to serve the students in their classrooms. Today's students tend to be first in their families to go to college, work more hours, may be older and may have already started families, and are typically low-income or financially independent. Today's students and the workforce they will enter are different from students and the workforce fifty years ago, but the state's public colleges and universities are taking the same approach to delivering course material and supports which do not meet the needs of today's students or California's economy.
“Simply hoping more Latinos will earn college credentials is not a strategy for meeting California's serious workforce crisis. We need a plan with resources behind it to fix the points at which our colleges and universities are letting promising Latino students fall out of the system,” said Siqueiros.
The report highlights that although Latinos have the greatest graduation success at the University of California relative to their graduation rates at the California Community Colleges and California State University, they are significantly underrepresented in the system. The data suggests this is partly a result of Proposition 209, the 1996 measure that prohibits the state from considering race, sex or ethnicity in employment, contracting and education. An examination of two decades of data revealed that admission rates for Latinos have declined by 28 points overall, 45 points at UC Berkeley and 46 points at UCLA -- far in excess of the drops in admission rates of other racial/ethnic groups.
“The disparities highlighted in this report are critical as we plan the future of the state of California,” stated Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel and Chair of the board of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “The report should lead to immediate legislative and administrative efforts to address the serious education gaps identified, which threaten our state's continued leadership nationally and globally.”
The report first and foremost calls on the Governor, legislature and college leaders for an overarching plan to close opportunity gaps between Latinos and their White and Asian peers and address the looming workforce crisis.
The report outlines a series of recommendations to help increase college access and success:
- Ensure all colleges successfully move students through pre-college level courses, quickly and with improved retention rates
- Provide students with clear transfer pathways to four-year degrees
- Expand college knowledge in middle and high school and invest in support services students need to succeed
- Fund colleges for both enrollment growth and successful outcomes
- Strengthen financial support options for low-to moderate-income college students Allow California's public universities to use race/ethnicity as one of many factors in weighing an applicant's qualifications for admission.
California is undergoing one of the largest demographic, cultural and economic transformations in its history,” said Siqueiros. “Whether we address or ignore the challenges and opportunities of strengthening educational success for the burgeoning Latino population will define our economic and democratic success as a state and nation for decades to come.”
Source: College Campaign.org press release, Report Finds California Failing to Produce Enough Latino College Grads: Future of State Economy in Jeopardy, by Audrey Dow, April 29, 2015
Latino college completion rates low despite enrollment
The gap dropped to 9 percent in 2014 from 14 percent in 2012 among those who entered college as first time, full-time undergraduates, according to the report.
But it's a different story when part-time students, which account for almost half of Hispanic students, are included. In California, home to the largest number of the country's Hispanics, only 15 percent of Latino students completed their undergraduate degree or certificate in the year 2010-11. In Texas, the number was 17 percent.
Low rates of college completion - especially at the community college level- do not just affect Hispanics. The difference is that in most states, there is still a very big gap between the number of Hispanic adults holding a degree compared to the rest of the population.
At East Los Angeles College in California, about 24,000 Latino students enrolled in the year 2011-12, but only about 1,000 completed their Associate Degree that year. And although California has the highest number of Latinos, not one of its colleges were in the top five institutions awarding associate or bachelor's degrees to Latinos.
Low rates of college completion - especially at the community college level- do not just affect Hispanics. In Texas, when part-time students are taken into account, only 18 percent of non-Latino whites obtained a degree in 2010-11 academic year.
The difference is that in most states, there is still a very big gap between the number of Hispanic adults holding a degree compared to the rest of the population. Nationally, only twenty percent of Latino adults have a postsecondary degree, compared to 36 percent of all U.S. adults. In California, only 16 percent of Latino adults over 25 have an associate or bachelor's degree, compared to 38 percent of all adults in that age group. In Texas, it's 16 percent of Hispanics who hold a degree, compared to 32 percent of total adults those ages.
At the same time, more and more Hispanic children are entering the nation's schools. In California, Hispanic students make up over half of the K-12 population; in Texas, it's about half. At the national level, 22 percent of children in K-12 are Hispanic.
Source: Originally published on nbcnews.com as Latino College Completion Rates Low Despite EnrollmentBy Sandra Lilley, April 15, 2014.
Is college worth it?
In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans (57 percent) say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend. An even larger majority (75 percent) says college is too expensive for most Americans to afford. At the same time, however, an overwhelming majority of college graduates (86 percent) say that college has been a good investment for them personally.
Here are some of the findings:
College completion - In 2010, more than 60 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had finished at least some college education (at a two-year or four-year institution), an increase from about 25 percent in the early 1960s. In 2010, 32 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds completed at least a bachelor’s degree (up from 13 percent in 1962) and an additional 9 percent had an associate degree as their highest degree completed. More young women (36 percent) than men (28 percent) complete at least a bachelor’s degree, and young whites (39 percent) continue to be more likely than young blacks (19 percent) or Hispanics (13 percent) to have at least a bachelor’s degree.
The value of college education – Opinion on this matter is consistent across racial and ethnic groups as well. Majorities of whites, blacks and Hispanics say the higher education system is doing only a fair or poor job in terms of providing value for the money spent by students and their families.
Whites (53 percent) are more satisfied with their education than are blacks (42 percent) or Hispanics (42 percent). Hispanic women are among the least satisfied (15 percent are very dissatisfied). But overall, men and women are equally satisfied with their education.
Reasons for not going to college - The young people who are not on the college track are disproportionately Hispanic. Among Hispanics ages 18-34, roughly two-thirds (65 percent) do not have a college degree and are not currently in school. This compares with 47 percent of blacks and 45 percent of whites in the same age group. Those not on the college track are also more likely to come from low-income households.
Getting ahead – Women place more importance than men on having a good work ethic and knowing how to get along with people. However, men and women do not differ over the importance of having a college degree. Whites and blacks place more importance than Hispanics on having a good work ethic, knowing how to get along with people and work skills learned on the job. Blacks stand out in terms of the value they place on higher education. More than half (55 percent) say having a college degree is extremely important in helping a young person succeed in the world today. This compares with 41 percent of whites and 39 percent of Hispanics.
Source: Pew Research Center, “Is College Worth it?” May 16, 2011,