The Education Trust just released A Look at Latino Student Success: Top- and Bottom-Performing Institutions, a report examining graduation rates for Latino students at U.S. colleges. While more Latino students are enrolling in four-year colleges and universities than ever before, and graduation rates are on the rise, only 54 percent of Latino students who start college as first-time, full-time freshmen complete their educational journey. On a national level, the graduation rates of Latino students are 10 percentage points less than their White counterparts.
This report examines the completion gaps at the national and institutional levels and provides examples of institutions to inspire other college leaders to better serve Latino students. Similar to our report A Look at Black Student Success, which was released in February 2017, we identify top- and bottom-performing colleges and universities for Latino students. As we show by comparison, similar colleges serving similar students can produce vastly different outcomes, proving that what institutions do with the students they enroll is absolutely critical.
Closing the national completion gap between Latino and White students won’t be possible if stratified enrollment patterns are not addressed. Too many Latino students are in colleges with lower overall graduation rates and larger gaps, and too few attend selective institutions with high graduation rates. Thus, in addition to closing gaps and improving graduation rates for Latino students at institutions, leaders at selective colleges and universities must enhance their outreach and recruitment efforts to ensure that more Latino students have opportunities to attend. The good news is, there is a way forward. The report also includes links to practice guides that institutional leaders can use to learn from other universities.
Ed Trust will continue sharing promising practices to help colleges and universities advance equity for students of color.