Diversity: Educating the Future, a Majority of Minorities

Diversity: Educating the Future, a Majority of Minorities

Latino employment and education seem to be hot topics in the blogosphere nowadays, especially with the ongoing, heated immigration debates. Regardless of what your stance on the latter issue, one thing is certain: the Latino population is booming in the U.S. By 2050 it is expected they will make up 29 percent of the American population.

But Latino representation in higher education is still lagging. “Almost one in four school-aged American children is Latino, but a report released earlier this year by the White House showed those children achieve ‘the lowest education attainment levels’ in the country.”

Even while “college and career readiness among 2011 Hispanic high school graduates … shows slow but steady improvement, particularly in the areas of math and science,” youth of color are still suffering from historic “disinvestment in public education, social services and youth development.”

The good news is that some institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) recognize the dilemma and are increasing recruitment at mostly Hispanic high schools and community colleges.

Of course as Latino enrollment in post-secondary education programs grows, students will most likely face the counter-productive criticism of race-based acceptance, but let’s deal with that when we get there.