Posts Tagged: Education
Hispanic college enrollment spikes
Driven by a single-year surge of 24 percent in Hispanic enrollment, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds attending college in the United States hit an all-time high of 12.2 million in October 2010, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of newly available Census Bureau data. From 2009 to 2010, the number of Hispanic young adults enrolled in college grew by 349,000, compared with an increase of 88,000 young blacks and 43,000 young Asian Americans and a decrease of 320,000 young non-Hispanic whites.
As a result of these shifts, young Hispanics for the first time outnumbered young blacks on campus, even though young black college enrollment has also grown steadily for decades and it, too, has surged in recent years.
The Hispanic enrollment increase has been even more dramatic than the black enrollment increase because it has been spurred by a mixture of population growth and educational strides. High levels of immigration and high birth rates have made Hispanics the nation's biggest minority group, comprising 16 percent of the U.S. population as of 2010. In 1972, just 5 percent of the nation's 18- to 24-year-olds were Hispanic. By 2010, that share rose to 19 percent.
However, population growth accounts for only a share of the 24 percent young Hispanic college enrollment spike from 2009 to 2010. During that same period, the total population of 18- to 24-year-old Hispanics grew by 7 percent.
Rising educational attainment is an important driver of these enrollment trends, over the long term as well as in recent years. The rate of young Hispanics enrolled in college rose from 13 percent in 1972 to 27 percent in 2009 to 32 percent in 2010.
Source: Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanic College Enrollment Spikes, Narrowing Gaps with Other Groups, August 25, 2011.
Latinos aspire to better education
96 percent of Latinos would like to see their kids earn a college degree.
When it comes to their children’s education, Latino voters have clear and high aspirations: a new poll revealed that an overwhelming 96 percent—almost all—would like to see their kids earn a college degree, whether it is a bachelor’s, master’s or professional degree.
What is not so clear is whether these voters can achieve this, at least from the financial point of view, since 59 percent do not think they will be able to continue paying their children’s tuition if it increases again next year. And 40 percent thinks that in general, even today, it will be difficult to pay all the costs associated with having their children attend college.
These are some of the results of an impreMedia/Latino Decisions poll, the fourth in a series of six national polls exploring the opinions of the Latino group that has best integrated into American society: registered voters.
An interesting poll finding is that, when it comes to seeking solutions for problems related to education and the low high school graduation rate, Latino voters are not so attached to ideological solutions (read: liberal or conservative) and freely choose from both options, sometimes in contradictory ways.
For example, the poll revealed Latinos consider the participation of parents the most important or crucial issue in tackling education problems. Only 17 percent blamed the state, 10 percent the school district and 5 percent teachers. In fact, Latinos usually have a high opinion of their children’s schools and teachers. Of respondents, 73 percent think their children’s teachers are good or excellent, while 67 percent think the school their children attend is good or excellent.
Also, 74 percent oppose reducing teachers’ salaries. However, 53 percent support the idea—generally considered conservative—of basing salaries on performance rather than seniority, an option supported by 37 percent.
Regarding solutions to education problems, voters support different things. The use of tax credits to pay for private school or college tuition obtained the support of 51 percent (school) and 84 percent (college) of voters. Nevertheless, history has shown that, when push comes to shove, a high percentage of Latino voters reject vouchers.
The poll also shows overwhelming support for facilitating education for undocumented students (76 percent) and bilingual education (80 percent), and opposition to reducing the school calendar (84 percent) and reducing art and music classes (65 percent). These voters are willing to pay more taxes for bond measures or to collect money and invest it in education (63 percent), all of which are the most liberal options within the political spectrum.
Education continues being an issue of the utmost importance for Latinos in the U.S.—although in recent months, other issues such as the economy and immigration have had more of a presence in the public arena and have demonstrated a higher priority in recent polls of Latinos in the United States.
In these types of polls, it was traditional for education to be the number one issue for these voters, but in this particular poll, education came third after the economy/jobs and immigration. This makes sense especially today, when the educational opportunities for young people are connected to their immigration status and the swings of the economy.
The economic situation has led states and school districts to make cuts in school spending and increase tuition in colleges and universities frequently in the last few years. This severely impacts the aspirations of Latinos, since a majority of their children count on public education in order to progress, according to the experts.
Source: La Opinión, Hispanics aspire to better education, by Pilar Marrero, August 18, 2011.
Educational experiences of young men of color
Nearly half of young men of color age 15 to 24 who graduate from high school will end up unemployed, incarcerated or dead.
The reports, The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color: A Review of Research, Pathways and Progress highlight that in order to once again become the leader in degree attainment, the United States will need to produce about 13.4 million additional college degrees by the year 2020. Reaching this college attainment goal will require significant participation and contributions by all racial/ethnic groups.
Latinos will need to earn 3.3 million additional degrees, while African Americans will need to earn an additional 1.9 million, Asian Americans an additional 800,000 and Native Americans an additional 94,000 by the year 2020.
As of 2008, only 41.6 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds in the United States had attained an Associate degree or higher. More alarmingly, only 30.3 percent of African Americans and 19.8 percent of Latinos ages 25 to 34 had attained an associate degree or higher in the United States, compared to 49.0 percent for white Americans and 70.7 percent for Asian Americans.
On the other hand, the Latino dropout rates show that the average dropout rate does not always tell the whole story. For example, in 2007 the 6.0 percent dropout rate for Cuban males is well below the Latino average of 19.9 percent, while the Salvadoran dropout rate is much higher at 25.8 percent.
The report concludes there is an educational crisis for young men of color in the United States. Men, especially minority men, lag behind their female counterparts in college access, educational attainment and employment.
The postsecondary pathways data show that 10 percent of African American males, 3 percent of Asian American males, 5 percent of Hispanic males and 3 percent of Native American males are incarcerated. Prisons and jails have become a significant destination for African American and Hispanic males.
Source: College Board, Advocacy Policy Center,”The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color: a Review of Research, Pathways and Progress”, June 2011.
Report on the economic value of college majors indicates Hispanics earn less
Hispanics earn less than Whites and Asians no matter what their specific undergraduate major, with few exceptions.
A new study confirms that Hispanics make less—in some cases, much less—than their White and Asian counterparts, no matter what their undergraduate major. Even in one of the highest-paying majors for Hispanics, Chemical Engineering, Hispanics make $36,000 less than their White counterparts.
Using United States Census data available for the first time is helping Americans connect the dots between college majors and career earnings. In the new report, What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors, published by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the research shows how critical the choice of major is to Hispanic median earnings, and how Hispanics continue to be segregated by race in choice of major.
Hispanics are most concentrated in Law and Public Policy majors (10 percent of people in these majors are Hispanic), and Engineering majors (9 percent). They are extremely underrepresented in Agriculture and Natural Resource majors (4 percent).
While there is a lot of variation in earnings over a lifetime, the authors find that all undergraduate majors are ‘worth it,’ even taking into account the cost of college and lost earnings. However, the lifetime advantage ranges from $1,090,000 for engineering majors to $241,000 for education majors.
Some of the findings include:
The top 10 majors with the highest median earnings for Hispanics are: Mechanical Engineering ($70,000); Civil Engineering ($65,000); Management Information Systems and Statistics ($65,000); Computer Science ($62,000); Electrical Engineering ($60,000); Computer and Information Systems ($60,000); Chemical Engineering ($59,000); Architecture ($59,000); Nursing ($58,000); and Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering ($56,000). They make more than African-Americans but less than Whites and Asians in most of these majors.
The 10 majors with the lowest median earnings Hispanics are: Theology and Religious Vocations ($30,000); Advertising and Public Relations ($38,000); General Education ($38,000); Social Work ($38,000); Mathematics ($40,000); Physical and Health Education Teaching ($40,000); Biology ($40,000); Psychology ($40,000); Elementary Education ($40,000); and Fine Arts ($40,000). Hispanics make less than their White, Asian, and African-American counterparts in almost all of these majors.
Source: HispanicPRBlog, “New report on the economic value of college majors indicates Hispanics earn less,” May 25, 2011.
No Child Left Behind fails Hispanic students
Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), there has been almost no reading gain, the math gains are modest and like reading, have slowed down since it was implemented, especially for Hispanic students. These findings are reported in a Fair Test article published in National Journal Educaction
NCLF is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Other key points mentioned in the article:
Grade 4 reading gain from 2002 until 2009: 4 points – less than one-half of one point per year. From 2000 to 2002, the gain was 11 points.
Grade 8 reading gain from 2002 to 2009: 2 points -- less than one quarter of a point per year. The previous grade 8 reading test was 1998, and the gain from 1998 to 2002 was 4 points.
Grade 4 math gain from 2003 to 2009: 5 points. The gain from 2000 to 2003, however, was 14 points, with the pre-NCLB period covering most of the gains.
Grade 8 math gain from 2003 to 2009: 9 points. The gain from 2000 to 2003 was 6 points. Even in what amounts to the best case scenario, the rate of gain in the NCLB period has slowed down compared with the previous period.
The author says that since NCLB, the rate of gain in both subjects, both grades, for almost all categories of students, have slowed. And this is clearly true for Hispanics.
Source: National Journal Expert Education, “Why NCLB Fails Hispanic Students,” April 2011,