A government report released Monday reveals Latino enrollment in higher education has improved but still has a long way to go.
The President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans conducted the report, which noted that 30 percent of Hispanic Americans still do not complete high school.
Despite a large amount of improvement in the last 20 years, the report states that Latino students still complete college at lower rates than other Americans and take longer to graduate.
One of the goals of the Commission, which President Clinton founded in 1994, is to raise educational performance of Latino students to the same level of other students by 2010.
In order to do this, the report suggests colleges recruit heavily in high schools with large Latino enrollments.
The report also encourages colleges and universities to study why Latino students drop out and to develop plans to solve the problem.
Sarita Brown, executive director for the White House Initiative, which oversaw the report, said a similar 1996 report on the performance of Latino students "set off an alarm." Since then, some federal, state and local government and business leaders have helped increase the opportunities available to Latino students and encourage them to pursue higher education, she said.
Brown also said the report is "an invitation for anybody to get involved who wants to ensure that all young people have a quality education."
The improvement in educational opportunities for Latinos over the findings in the 1996 report suggests that "the strategies that can cause remarkable improvement already exist," Brown said.
Asst. Dean of Students Pablo J. Davis said the most important thing to remember when considering the findings is that many Latinos have different starting points from other college students.
Demographically, the population is young, and there is a high percentage of immigrants in the Latino population, Davis said. He added that Latinos tend to live in lower-income areas, with poorly funded public schools.
At the University, administrators are making efforts to improve the recruitment and retention of Latino students. The Latino Students Admissions Committee sponsors Fall Blast and Spring Blast, a program designed to introduce Latino students to the University and encourage them to attend.
Davis pointed to the nearly 50 percent increase in the number of entering first-year Latino students since the fall of 1998 and the 90 percent Latino graduation rate as an example of the University's success.
La Sociedad Latina Co-President Greg Staff said the key obstacle facing Latino students who desire a college education is financial aid. Staff said he also believes colleges need to foster a climate that is accepting of other cultures and ethnic groups. Further acceptance would encourage more students to attend college, he said.
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