El Diario NY

New report profiles current state of Latinos in education

Impremedia — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:01:00 +0000

A new report by a top education advocacy group details the progress Latinos have made in education attainment over the last decade as well as areas where improvement is still needed. The report released this week by Excelencia in Education is titled The Condition of Latinos in Education: 2015 Factbook. The authors of the report say its intended to provide a more accurate profile of the current state of Latinos in education. So many people presume that the majority of Latinos are English language learners, drop-outs and undocumented immigrants, Deborah Santiago, vice president of Excelencia in Education and author of the report, told VOXXI. We are some of those things, but the majority of us are not. SEE ALSO: Closing educational achievement gaps would grow the U.S. economy The report provides more than 20 fact sheets that offer snapshots of the current condition of Latino students at all levels of educationfrom early childhood education to college and beyond. It also establishes a baseline from which to measure performance over time. The report concludes that over the last 10 years, Latinos have made significant progress in educational attainment. For example, Latino students have made improvements in high school completion. According to the report, high school completion among Latino students has increased from 57 percent to 65 percent. Whats more, the percentage of Latinos among high school dropouts has also been cut in half to 13 percent. Another area in which Latino students have made significant progress is in college enrollment. The report shows about 70 percent of Latinos who graduate from high school enroll in college, up from 54 percent a decade ago. Whats also significant is the fact that Latino high school graduates have higher college enrollment rates than their white and African American peers. And when it comes to educational attainment, Latinos have also seen improvements. Over the last 10 years, the number of Latinos earning an associate degree or higher has increased by 71 percentfrom 3.8 million to 6.5 million Latinos with at least an associate degree. SEE ALSO: Why Obamas free community college plan matters to Latinos However, the report also stresses that theres still plenty of work to do in order to increase Latino student success. For example, while education attainment for Latinos has increased, Latinos still fall behind other groups. According to the report, about 22 percent of Latino adults who are 25 or older have at least an associate degree, compared to 60 percent of Asians, 46 percent of whites and 31 percent of African Americans. Whats also troubling is that Latino children are more likely to live in poverty, as are African American children, compared to Asians and whites. They are also less likely to be enrolled in early childhood education and more likely to have lower reading and math scores than other groups. Santiago said she hopes stakeholders, decision makers and funders will pay attention to the report and look more critically at areas in which they can make positive contributions to improve Latino student success. Were not dictating whether the focus should be early childhood or college or graduate education, though there are opportunities to make improvements in all those areas, she said. For us, its a matter of saying, Look, dont just spend your time doing the analysiswe have a snapshot here. Think about what you can do with it. Santiago added, Our hope is that this is a springboard to dive deeper and to do more. SEE ALSO: Excelencia in Education: Promoting Hispanic excellence in school

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Undocumented students face numerous barriers to higher education

Impremedia — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 16:12:00 +0000

By Griselda Nevarez Every year, an estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools all across the United States, but there are a number of barriers that keep many of them from going on to college. A report released Friday by the Generation Progress and the Center for American Progress highlights some of those barriers. Undocumented young people have led fights in the states for years to access higher education, Zenen Jaimes Perez, policy advocate for Generation Progress, said in a statement. However, too many are still unable to access higher education. SEE ALSO: New legislation encourages in-state tuition for undocumented students One of the main barriers undocumented students face is the soaring cost of college tuition, according to the report. Over the last three decades, the cost of tuition has increased by more than 1,000 percent. Yet undocumented students are denied the opportunity to turn to federal financial aid for help. Some states have also passed laws barring undocumented students from paying in-state tuition rates and from receiving state financial aid. Without these benefits, many undocumented students pay around 61 percent more to attend the same college or university as their peers, even though they attended the same K-12 schools, the Center for American Progress said in a statement. Supporters of these laws requiring undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition argue taxpayers shouldnt have to subsidize the education of students who are in the country unlawfully. But opponents argue that by making it difficult to attend college, states are creating a class of uneducated young people. At the same time, some states have taken steps to make getting a college education easier to reach for undocumented students. Texas was the first state to pass a law in 2001 allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition. Since then, 15 more states have followed suit and have passed similar legislation. Four statesTexas, California, New Mexico, and Washingtonhave gone even further by passing laws that allow undocumented students to access publicly funded education grants. SEE ALSO: La Vida Robot shows how four undocumented students beat the odds However, some states also bar undocumented students from attending public colleges and universities. In Alabama and South Carolina, undocumented states are banned from enrolling in any public secondary institution. In Georgia, undocumented students are barred from enrolling in some public colleges and universities. Besides tuition cost, the report lists other barriers that make it difficult for undocumented students to attain a college education. Those factors include structural barriers like lack of adequate mentoring, limited information on eligibility from postsecondary institutions and a lack of continued financing for tuition and other living costs. Furthermore, the report adds that high poverty rates, the need to work to help support their families and unsupportive college environments also conspire to lock the door to higher education for undocumented students. Undocumented students are a part of our community and the future of our country, Perez stated. They should be able to access the same higher-education benefits as their peers in order to participate in our economy. SEE ALSO: New scholarship fund aims to help Dreamers go to college But the report notes these challenges can be overcome. It lists a number of actions that can be taken to ensure undocumented students have the same opportunities to succeed as their peers. Those actions include: Passing immigration reform legislation in Congress that creates a path to citizenship for undocumented youth and includes education provisions, like allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition and access federal education benefits Allowing beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program access Pell Grants Passing more state laws that allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates and qualify for publically funded state education benefits Passing state laws that require professional development for high school and college personnel to increase the understanding of what postsecondary options are available to undocumented students Doing more to train college advisors and administrators to address the needs of undocumented students and create a more welcoming campus environment Encouraging more colleges and universities to expand financial aid opportunities for undocumented students SEE ALSO: Closing educational achievement gaps would grow the U.S. economy

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The ABCs of higher education are changing; will Latino students keep up?

Impremedia — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:09:00 +0000

Theres little argument that the education future is built around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math); however, a recent study revealed 38 percent of students who…

The childcare connection that voids Latinas from going to college

Impremedia — Thu, 29 May 2014 10:05:00 +0000

In addition to skyrocketing tuition, there are many ancillary costs associated with going to college. One area where community college students are finding increasing difficulty…

Work needed to bridge Latino higher-education gap

Impremedia — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 13:04:00 +0000

Despite inroads in Latino college completion, the recently released Excelencia in Education Latino College Completion in 50 States report reveals there is much work still…

Access to higher education

Impremedia — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 14:11:04 +0000

The data from a recent study, “The State of Latinos in Higher Education in California,” by the Campaign for College Opportunity are extremely disturbing.Among the state’s adult population over 25 years old, fewer than 11% of Latinos have earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher. In jarring contrast, about 40% of Latinos over 25 have only […]