New Mexico News
| Latino Education Gap Targeted |
| Posted by Peter Phipps (pphipps) on Jun 10 2008 at 7:34 PM |
Latinos drop out of high school at higher rates than Anglos. Fewer go on to college, and fewer still earn college degrees.
Ask New Mexico Deputy Higher Education Secretary William Flores why that's important, and you'll get a short answer.
"If the education gap between whites and Latinos is not addressed, it could cost the U.S. economy billions," Flores told educators from throughout the nation Friday.
The educators are in Albuquerque for a three-day policy summit on Latino higher education issues hosted by the University of New Mexico.
The summit— titled "Responding to a Call of Urgency"— concludes today.
National statistics highlighting the disparity between Anglo and Latino students also hold true in New Mexico. At UNM, for example, 49.4 percent of Anglo students who enrolled in 2001 graduated within six years. For UNM Latino students, the figure was 39.9 percent.
"We need to graduate more (Latino students)," said Eliseo "Cheo" Torres, a summit organizer and vice president of student affairs at UNM.
Summit participants grappled with the reasons for the disparity and discussed ways to solve the problem.
Summit organizers plan to compile the policy recommendations and forward them to state and national government leaders, including the presidential candidates.
Among the ideas discussed was forming Latino colleges similar to the historic black colleges that have been part of the higher education landscape for generations.
"Maybe we should think about building our own institutions," suggested Monte Perez, vice president for student services at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif.
He also suggested that Hispanic Serving Institutions— colleges or universities with a Latino student population of 25 percent or greater— focus more on graduating Latino students than on getting them in the door.
Another suggestion was mandating that high school students take a class that explores the ins and outs of preparing for college and what resources are available to help pay for it.
"A large part of the barrier is (Latino students) just don't have the information," said Adrián Pedroza, executive director of the Albuquerque Partnership, a coalition of community groups concerned with education and other issues.
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