Colorado, the second most-educated state in the nation, has a college-attainment gap between White and Latino residents that is the worst among the nine states with the largest Latino populations.
The wide disparities are highlighted in a new report out by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Highlights of “Rocky Mountain Divide: Lifting Latinos and Closing Equity Gaps in Colorado” paint a stark picture:
• Among those who attend a public college in Colorado, 39 percent of White students eventually earn a bachelor’s degree compared to 19 percent of Latinos.
• While 89 percent of White children in Colorado have at least one parent with some college education, that’s true of only 51 percent of Latino children.
• Approximately 63 percent of White Colorado high school graduates immediately enroll in college, compared to 42 percent of Latinos.
• About 31 percent of Latinos receive a postsecondary credential within five years compared to 49 percent of Whites.
Even though Colorado ranks near the top nationally in terms of a college-educated population, its on-time high school graduation rate is the fifth-lowest which, like in other states, is even more marked among the Latino population. Seventy-seven percent of Coloradoans graduate from high school within four years, lower than the figure of 83 percent nationally. Latinos in the state fare worse, with 68 percent finishing high school within four years compared to a 78-percent national average for Latinos.
