Challenges around the higher education landscape and concerns about college affordability are making it harder for more Latinos to earn a degree.
An analysis published Wednesday by Excelencia in Education, one of the nation’s leading education think tanks focused on Latino college completion, found that the degree completion gap between Latinos and their white peers has increased since 2018.
While graduation rates for Latino students have been relatively flat for nearly five years, graduation rates for white students have increased over the same period, effectively widening the degree gap.
Graduation rates for Latinos at two-year institutions have hovered around 33% since 2018, and for those at four-year institutions it hovered at around 52%. In contrast, graduation rates for non-Latino white students at two-year institutions reached 38%, and for those at four-year institutions it jumped to 65%, according to the analysis.
At two-year institutions, Latino students’ graduation rate was 5 percentage points lower than their non-Hispanic white peers. At four-year institutions, it was 13 points lower.
To close the gap, Latinos will need to obtain at least 6.2 million titles by 2030, the analysis shows.
This means that colleges and universities that are already grappling with challenges related to the business model of higher education and the cost of going to college will not be able to meet their enrollment and graduation goals without Latinos, particularly considering that the student population of the nation is becoming increasingly racial. and ethnically diverse, said Deborah Santiagoco-founder and CEO of Excellence in Education.
According to Santiago, it’s important to make sure that “while everyone is increasing, Latinos are accelerating, so that we can really close the gaps in [degree] achievement,” he told a news conference about the new report.
The top five institutions awarding bachelor’s degrees to Latino students are Florida International University, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, California State University-Northridge, California State University-Fullerton, and the University of Central Florida.
Santiago said the reason behind the college completion gap is nuanced. Students attending colleges and universities across the country have struggled to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, especially during the period when schools transitioned to virtual learning. Additionally, the rising costs of higher education continue to be a major problem for many families.
The challenge of closing the Latino college completion gap comes amid recent laws defunding diversity programs and restricting courses based on race and gender in states like Florida and Texas, and the recent Supreme Court ruling against the action. affirmative in selective institutions.
Santiago believes that closing the gap is “doable… there are no excuses for inaction.”
“This is a population that is ready to go to college,” Santiago said.
