Client In the News: Hispanic Scholarship Foundation Calls for 14 Million Degrees in 14 Years
Frank Alvarez, president and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund contributed the following point of view to Daniel de Vise’s Washington Post blog: College Inc.
We need 14 million more Hispanic degrees
As Hispanic Americans watch the batches of data flow out from the U.S. Census Bureau we have both a sense of pride and anxiety. Pride in our contributions to American society and anxiety about the corresponding challenges we face, especially in the area of higher education.
The 2010 census is showing that Hispanics are playing an increasingly important role in communities all over the U.S. The Hispanic population in Arkansas increased by 114 percent in the last 10 years and now stands at 186,050. In Mississippi, our numbers since 2000 have increased 106 percent to 81,481.
Our historically large population in Texas is now at 9 million, or 38 percent of the state’s entire population. Hispanics comprise 48 percent of Texans under the age of 18 and they all hope to play an important role in America’s future in some way or another.
The path to a successful future has often included a college education. The reality is the U.S. Latino degree attainment rate stands at 19 percent — much lower than it should be. Our goal is to move this to 60 percent by 2025 in order to meet the college attainment goals set forth for all Americans by President Obama and supporters like Lumina Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That means 14 million more Hispanic two- and four-year degree holders in the next 14 years.