Officials at all three schools said the combination of mostly commuter students, bilingual university staff and parents' familiarity with local campuses have made it less necessary to reach out online because so much business is conducted in person.
Brownsville plans to offer more Spanish Web content within the next six months, said Carlo Tamayo, director of new student relations. But at Florida International, limited resources make it hard enough to keep an English site up-to-date, so a Spanish version is unlikely, said Steve Kelly, interim associate vice president for enrollment services.
“It might be a nice thing, but I haven't heard of or sensed a crying need for it,” Kelly said.
Still, Santiago noted that translations alone won't be enough to attract Latinos to a given college, because the service is mainly for parents, not students. Schools need to publicize their offerings to Hispanic high schoolers, because otherwise there may not be “that kitchen table conversation about college options,” she said.
“If they don't know about you in the first place,” Santiago said, “then translating isn't going to be helpful.”
