WASHINGTON ― Despite California having the largest Latino population in the U.S., there are no California higher education institutions in the top five at the associate’s or bachelor’s level, according to a report delivered Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
Excelencia in Education, the data-driven organization that aims to advance the success of Latino students in higher education, also noted in its report “Latino College Completion: United States” that Latinos will need to earn 5.5 million more degrees above current levels by 2020 in order for the U.S. to regain the top ranking in the world for college degree attainment. By reaching this goal, the organization said the U.S. can close the equity gap in college completion, increase the number of degrees awarded and scale up programs and initiatives that work for Latinos and other students.
The report indicates that the top five higher education institutions for Latino enrollment are Miami Dade College, South Texas College, El Paso Community College, East Los Angeles College and Florida International College.
“Four of the top five are predominantly community colleges,” said Deborah Santiago, chief operating officer and vice president of policy at Excelencia. “With Miami Dade at the top of the list enrolling almost 45,000 students with about 8,000 earning associate’s degrees, when thinking crudely, isn’t too bad but could be much better.”
While enrollment numbers for Latino students are relatively high, the degree attainment data in the report exposes a significant equity gap in college completion, most noticeably in California. In a state that is 30 percent Latino, only 16 percent that are 25 and older hold either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, as compared to the 20 percent rate nationally.
Santiago urged policymakers, asking, “Why there is significant representation at the enrollment level but not at the completion level? Why do we not see what we would assume based on population and the number of institutions?”
The highest-ranking institution for enrolled Latino students in California is East Los Angeles College, with just over 24,000 students. Of those 24,000, just over 1,000 are earning associate’s degrees. Therefore, if a community college is graduating 1,000 students, then they are No. 1 in the state. Texas and Florida fared better in the Latino enrollment versus completion rates of Latino students.
