Among 18- to 24-year-old U.S. postsecondary students, the higher education enrollment rate of Latino high school graduates surpassed that of White high school graduates in 2012 for the first time, according to a census data analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project.
Using just-released U.S. Census data, the Pew Hispanic Trends Project reported that the higher education enrollment rate of 18- to 24-year-old Latino high school graduates reached 49 percent in 2012 compared to 47 percent of non-Hispanic White high school graduates. With Latinos having a higher high school dropout rate than Whites, the proportion of all Latinos from 18 to 24 in college is below that of Whites—37.5 percent among Latinos compared to 42.1 percent among Whites, according to the Pew Hispanic Trends Project analysis.
“Probably the most important finding of this new Census [data] release is that not only are more Hispanics going to college, but, among those that finish high school, a larger share of them are enrolled,” said Dr. Richard Fry, the senior research associate at the Pew Hispanic Trends Project.
The Hispanic Trends Project is part of the Washington-based Pew Research Center, which is a nonpartisan research organization that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the U.S. and the world.
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that overall college enrollment in fall 2012, including both graduate and undergraduate figures, fell by half a million (467,000) from the previous year. Enrollment, however, increased among Latinos and in the proportion of Latino high school graduates attending college, reflecting both population growth and the growing rate of college preparedness. The new Census Bureau data also revealed that Latino students reached other milestones in 2012, including recent progress in educational attainment and college attendance.
The number of Latinos enrolled in college grew by 447,000 from 2011 to 2012, the Census Bureau reported. From 2006 to 2012, the percentage of all college students who were Latino rose from 11 to 17 percent. The percentage of all college students who were African-American also increased, rising from 14 to 15 percent, while the percent of non-Hispanic White students declined from 67 to 58 percent, according to the Census Bureau.
