LOS ANGELES
Although a majority of Latino students in California are enrolled in the community-college system, only a handful transfer to a four-year university, according to a new report by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.
The study, released last week at the 2007 Latina/o Education Summit at UCLA, shows that of the Latino students who enrolled in a community college for the 2002-03 school year, 40 percent aspired to transfer to a four-year institution.
“Unfortunately, only a handful of students who aspire to transfer actually do so,” the researchers said. “In 2002-03, approximately 10 percent of [Latino] students enrolled at a California community-college campus successfully transferred to a four-year institution.”
In addition, 28 percent of Latino community-college students were undecided about their future educational goals. However, the authors argued that with access to the appropriate transfer curriculum and counseling, undecided students could potentially aspire to transfer as well.
“These findings reveal an ongoing mismatch between students’ aspirations and the institutional support needed to meet these goals that must be examined and modified,” the authors said.
Chicanos are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to attain a doctorate by way of a community college, the study says. Of all Chicanos who received a doctorate, one out of four began his or her postsecondary education at the community-college level.
