Tag: Hispanic College Enrollment

Hispanics Exceed Whites In Initial College Enrollment

A new analysis from the Pew Research Hispanic Center of U.S. Census Bureau data finds a record 69 percent of Hispanic high school graduates in the class of 2012 enrolled in college last fall, two points higher than the rate among white counterparts. This increase in Hispanic college matriculation accelerated with the recession in 2008, while it declined among whites at the same time. The most recent data also show that in 2011, only 14 percent of Hispanic 16-to-24-year-olds were high school dropouts, versus 28 percent in 2000. The dropout rate among whites also declined during that period, but by less. However, Hispanics continue to lag in several key higher-education measures: Hispanic students are less likely than white counterparts to enroll in a four-year college (56 versus 72 percent), less likely to attend a selective college, less likely to enroll in college full-time, and less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree. The brief posits the rise in high school completion and college enrollment by Latino youth may be driven in part by declining fortunes in the job market. Since 2007, unemployment among Latinos ages 16 to 24 has risen seven percentage points. Another factor, however, could be the growing importance that Latino families place on a college education. More