Project Vision 21

According to a recent report presented by Michelle Camacho Liu during the National Conference of State Legislatures, only 17.4 percent of Latinos in the United States completed a college career. Among Whites, 51.5 percent received a college degree.

That disparity reaches new dimensions when two other factors are taken into consideration. First, there number of Latinos in the United States keeps growing. Second, by 2018, 67 percent of jobs will require a college degree. (In fact, it seems Colorado already reached that percentage.)

According to census data, 43 percent of the growth of the population during the past decade was due to Latinos, and Hispanics represent now almost 20 percent of the total population in the United States. However, only 12 percent of college students are Latino.

The problem, of course, are not the Latino students, but the persistence of some systems that during many years, on purpose or not, excluded Latino students and kept them outside of colleges and universities. However, at this time that exclusion has become too evident to be concealed. What, then, should colleges do?

Granted, many colleges do have programs to attract Latinos. But those programs are in reality looking for Latinos who will adapt to the system already in place, almost forcing those Latinos to abandon their cultural traditions, their communitarian goals, and their family obligations.

For that reason, it is not a surprise that those attempts fail. Even worst, they cause the academic and financial failure of young and adult Hispanics who become frustrated by an environment that lures them, but never accept them. So, unable to continue studying, they drop out of college.

However, there is also good news. I know of three universities, and I am sure there are many more, that, instead of asking Latinos to morph themselves into already existing programs, are changing those programs or creating new ones to adapt them to the needs and desires of the Hispanic population.

For example, Regis University (a Jesuit University in Denver) will soon offer a dual-language, accelerated program that will give Hispanic professionals the opportunity of completing a college degree sooner than with a traditional approach and to do it in both English and in Spanish.

In this modality, classes last 5 weeks or 8 weeks, and are offered at times (evenings, Saturdays) when adult professionals can attend.

Colorado Heights University, also in Denver, is a private, non-profit university focusing on international students. For that reason, CHU can accept students other universities can’t, and it can offer affordable tuition, thus removing two of the biggest obstacles Latino students face.

And the International Hispanic Online University, in Utah (created by the same group that created the online curriculum for the University of Colorado) offers college classes in Spanish so students can acquire a solid academic level before attending regular classes.

The statistics about Latinos and college education are worrisome, but there is hope that soon Latino students will find open the doors of both admission and graduation at many American colleges.