Latino college students are more likely to be first-generation students and less likely to leave college after earning their degrees. Great In education.
The April 2024 report uses publicly available data to give readers a “basic understanding” of who Latino students are, how they fit a “post-traditional student profile,” and the schools they attend, said lead author of the study. Emily Labandera said: Great.
“This is a significant college-going population,” Labandera said. various. “Latinos are one of the fastest growing and college-going populations. And if we’re really thinking about securing the future of America – our workforce, our economy, our civic leadership – Latinos are a key demographic to keep in mind when thinking about federal policy.”
Latinos in Higher Education: 2024 Fact Sheet Co-founder and CEO, Dr. Written by Deborah Santiago. GreatResearch Analyst Dr. Cassandra Arroyo and Lily Cuellarsola.
Among Latino students attending U.S. colleges and universities, Mexican or Chicano students make up nearly half (49%) of the population. Meanwhile, other Hispanic students accounted for 27%. Puerto Ricans accounted for 12% and Cubans accounted for 2%.
The majority of these students are U.S. citizens (90%), with similar numbers as students of other races/ethnicities (98% of white students and 92% of African American students). Additionally, most Latino students are second- or third-generation immigrants, born in the United States at 47% and 36%, respectively.
When it comes to postsecondary education, Latino students are significantly more likely than other demographics to be the first in their families to attend college (51%). For comparison, 31% of all students are first-generation college students, and the next highest racial/ethnic group with first-generation students is African American at 38%.
Latino students are also more likely to have part-time or hybrid enrollment status rather than full-time, with 27% of each choosing to do so. The percentage of Latino students who reported working to pay the bills was similar to other racial groups, but it is still notable that more than half (56%) worked more than 30 hours per week to pay for tuition. 34% reported paying tuition. Working more than 40 hours per week.
“They are making practical choices about how to pay for their education, their college tuition,” Labandera said.
The report noted that many Latino students need financial aid to attend college. Most (72%) receive some form or form of support, but they receive less support than other ethnic groups. In 2019-20, Latino students received an average of $11,937 in financial aid, less than African Americans ($13,673), white students ($14,461), and Asians ($17,286).
However, when it comes to federal Pell grants specifically, Latino students appear to receive more on average ($4,246) than any other racial/ethnic group, with the exception of Asians ($4,722). The report found that about half of Latino students and 49% of Latino undergraduate students received and utilized federal Pell grants during the 2019-20 academic year.
This need for financial aid is consistent with how Latino students' families are doing economically, whose average family income ($65,221) is significantly lower than the average income of Asian and white families, which is more than $100,000.
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Despite some improvements in fall 2021, rates of retention (those who return to the same school the following year) and persistence (those who continue at either institution) rates for Latino students continue to lag the national average by several percentage points. . report.
Fewer Latino students graduate from college and earn degrees than the general population, demonstrating significant underrepresentation of students from this racial/ethnic group in degree attainment. The report found that more than half (51%) of all Latino college students earned a two- or four-year degree within six years.
The gap in bachelor's degree attainment was most pronounced with regard to bachelor's degrees, with only 13% of Latino students earning a bachelor's degree, compared to 22% for all students. And 44% of people, 18 years or older, In the United States, only 27% of Latinos earned an associate's degree or higher in 2021-22.
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Most Latino undergraduate learners (63%) attend Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), which makes up nearly half of the HSI student body. The report noted that although the number of HSIs in the U.S. has increased, now reaching 600, such schools are located in only 28 states and are typically located in cities or suburbs.
Schools in Florida mostly top the charts when it comes to the number of degrees awarded to Latino students. Florida International University, one of the nation's largest HSIs, awarded the most bachelor's and master's degrees to Latinos in the 2019-20 academic year, at 8,781 and 1,844, respectively.
Miami Dade College led the way in the number of associate degrees awarded to Latinos (7,388), while Nova Southeastern University was equal in doctoral degrees and first professional degrees awarded (140 and 352, respectively). Both schools are HSIs.
José Moreno, Ph.D., chair of the California State University, Long Beach Department of Chicano and Latino Studies, called the report a reminder to policymakers and philanthropies of the need for greater investments in HSIs, which disproportionately bring success to Latino students. “It is,” he said. ”
“This report is a constant reminder that our least-resourced institutions bear the greatest responsibility for helping Latino students achieve their degree goals,” Moreno said.
But he also wrote that the lack of doctorates awarded to Latino students indicates a lack of efforts by higher education institutions to diversify their faculty ranks.
“Academies are the only industry that produces its own workforce, creating a self-fulfilling and demoralizing cycle in which institutions lacking Latino faculty and executive leadership lack a pool of qualified Latinos,” Moreno said. “But it is the institutions that recognize, sustain, and award doctoral degrees that form the pool for future faculty and academic leadership.”
Although boys and girls have similar high school graduation rates, the gap is wider when it comes to college enrollment. As of fall 2021, Latino men made up 40% of Latino undergraduate students, with Latino men making up the remainder.
And the percentage of Latinos enrolling in undergraduate education as adults aged 25 or older, at 18%, is similar to that of their white peers, the report noted.
“While we have seen progress in higher education participation among Latinos, gaps remain when it comes to degree attainment, and there is an opportunity to identify areas of opportunity where we can support and invest in our communities to close these gaps,” Santiago said. . “Institutions that disproportionately enroll and graduate Latino students demonstrate that it is possible to intentionally serve Latino students while serving everyone.”