NCLR
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA
Hispanic Education in the United States By Adriana D. Kohler and Melissa Lazarín*
Introduction Hispanics** have become the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the U.S., rising from 12% of the population in 2000 to 14% of the total U.S. population in 2004.1 While in some areas there has been improvement in the status of Latino education over the past decade, the data continue to show that Hispanic educational attainment does not match that of non-Hispanics. Participation in all levels of education continues to be low, while dropout and retention rates are still high. Insufficient financial aid and inadequate access to rigorous courses and educational resources are among the challenges in improving the educational status of *
Latinos. Also, as immigrant and English language learner (ELL) students become a growing segment of the Latino student population, educational gaps between Latinos and other U.S. students have become increasingly apparent. From early childhood through higher education, Latinos continue to be underserved by educational programs designed to help the most disadvantaged students. This statistical brief provides a summary of the key data concerning Latinos in the educational pipeline.
Demography of the Hispanic Student Population Latino children under 18 years of age are the secondlargest group of students after Whites. Latino schoolaged children are also among the fastest-growing student populations. Furthermore, although Latino students are still concentrated in “traditional” Latino states, such as Texas and California, their presence is growing in nontraditional states in the Midwest and Southeast. ■ Latinos are a significant and growing proportion of the United States student population. In
Adriana D. Kohler was a Policy Intern for Education Reform at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in 2006. Melissa Lazarín is the NCLR Senior Policy Analyst for Education Reform. The authors thank other NCLR staff who contributed to the completion of this brief, including Raul González, Legislative Director, who provided substantive input and oversight; Jennifer Kadis, Director of Quality Control, who provided expert editorial guidance; and Rosemary Aguilar, Director of the Graphics & Design Unit, who prepared this document for publication and distribution. This brief was made possible with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The findings and conclusion presented here, however, are those of the authors and NCLR alone. Permission to copy, disseminate, or otherwise use information from this paper is granted, provided that appropriate credit is given to NCLR.
** The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are used interchangeably by the U.S. Census Bureau and throughout this paper to identify persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American, Dominican, Spanish, and other Hispanic descent; they may be of any race.
2007 STATISTICAL BRIEF NO. 8