futures hurt by stagnation

For millions of young Latinos, higher education through community colleges has been the best way to climb the social ladder, to move up the income scale, to build a future better than the one their parents had and integrate into American society.

This is true both in Los Angeles and in the rest of California, and in the long run, throughout the United States: Our children, whether immigrants, children or grandchildren of immigrants were able to combine a productive life of support to their families with the process of forging their future.

Upon completion of the customary two years at community colleges, and having amassed the necessary credits, those young people had the gates of opportunity open wide to potentially transfer to a four-year university.

Over time, they gained footing in the occupations practiced by holders of college degrees. Here are our teachers and principals, school by school; here, our social workers and psychologists, our nurses, lawyers, engineers.

Community colleges have been a target of preference for Latinos, because, simply, the classes cost less than half of those of universities; and sincemost come from lower level schools, community colleges offer more flexibilityfor moving forward.

A recent study by the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute states that Hispanics in California favor community colleges more than other groups: one third of our high school graduates go to community colleges, versus one quarter among other ethnic groups.

For all these reasons, the news of stagnation in the ranks of community college students, on which we reported yesterday in La Opinión, is so alarming. Throughout the United States, as we noted in the article (“La educación hispana, estancada”), the number of students registered at community colleges fell by 10%. This represents the second consecutive year of decline, according to the Census Bureau.

For years California haslogged through economic crises and massive budget deficits, which were especially cruel to the public university system. Tuition rose as the variety of classes and availability of professors declined.

This has had a negative impact on Hispanic youth. Not only because the cost hike was compounded by a weak job market and salary stagnation, but also because many Latinos do not quality for financial aid, or simply opt not to apply for it due to their immigration status.

We must sound the alarm before this trend—which we can still control—gets out of hand. Before the promise of a better future through education grows more distant, before our hopes lose strength