Facts On Hispanic Higher Education

Demographics

• Hispanics account for 11.4% of the population, with a growth rate of nearly 40% since 1990 (US Bureau of the Census, 1999).
  
  
• In 2000, the projected median age for Hispanics will be 26.6 as compared to 36.9 for non-Hispanic whites (US Bureau of the Census, 1999).
  
  
• Within the Hispanic population, 64.5% are of Mexican descent,10.1% have Puerto Rican origins, 14.4% are from Central and South America, 4.3% are Cuban, and 6.8% are categorized as having "other Hispanic" origins (US Bureau of the Census, 1999).
  
  
• 73% of the nation's Hispanics reside in five states. California has the highest number (40%), with Texas ranked second (19%), followed by New York (9%), Florida (8%), and Illinois (4%) (Digest of Education Statistics, 1998).
  
  
• One of every 4 persons (24.7%) living in poverty in the United States is of Hispanic origin (US Bureau of the Census, 1999).

Demographics - Projections

• Demographic projections by the US Bureau of the Census report that within the next 30 years the growth rate of Hispanics will be the second largest for all population subgroups, after Asians; Hispanics will become the major minority by 2005 (US Bureau of the Census,1999).
  
  
• By the year 2025, it is estimated that Hispanic Americans will comprise nearly 18% of the United States population, this will account for 44% of the growth in the nation's population (US . Bureau of the Census, 1999).
  
  

Hispanic Representation in Education

• 1.36 million Hispanics are enrolled in higher education in the continental United States and Puerto Rico (HACU Analysis of IPEDS Data).
  
  
• 50% of Hispanic students in higher education in the continental US and Puerto Rico attend Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Analysis of 97-98 IPEDS Data).
  
  
• Of all full-time faculties in higher education, 2.4% are Hispanic, while 9.3% of all students in higher education in the United States are Hispanic (National Center for Educational Statistics, IPEDS, 1997; ACE Minorities in Higher Education 97-98).
  
  
• 4.3% of all teachers at the elementary- and secondary-school level are Hispanic, while 14% of the public school student population is Hispanic. (US Bureau of the Census, 1999; Digest of Education Statistics, 1998).

Level of Educational Attainment

• Of all Hispanics, 9.4% have less than a 5th grade education; 29% have less than an 8th grade education; 45.3% have less than a high school education (cumulative percentages); and 54.7% of all Hispanics have graduated from high school (Current Population Reports, 1997 US Bureau of the Census, 1997).
  
  
• 71.2% of all Hispanics have never attended college; and 13.3% have attended "some" college (CPS March 1997).
  
  
• Hispanics constituted 6.9% of associate degrees; 5.0% of bachelor's degrees; 3.6% of master's degrees; 4.5% of first-professional degrees; and 2.2% of all doctorate degrees awarded in 1996 (Statistical Abstract of the United States 1999, US Bureau of the Census).

Academic Performance of Hispanic Students: A Comparison

• The 1998 high school completion rate for Hispanics aged 25 and over was 55.5% versus the rate of 83.7% for whites (Statistical Abstract of the United States 1999, US Bureau of the Census).
  
  
• Nearly 40% of Hispanic students who drop out do so before the 8th grade (ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, 1995).
  
  
• The competency levels in high school for all subjects are lower for Hispanics than for whites. Based on proficiency scores in 1996, Hispanic 17-year-olds scored lower than their 13-year-old white counterparts in reading, writing and science and only slightly higher in math than 13-year-old white students (Statistical Abstract of the United States 1999, US Bureau of the Census).
  
  
• Only 27.5% of Hispanic high school graduates ages 18-21 were enrolled in college in 1997 versus the rate of 46.1% for whites (Statistical Abstract of the United States 1999, US Bureau of the Census).
  
  
• By 1998, for persons 25 years old and over, only 11% of Hispanics had completed a college education compared with 25% for whites (US Bureau of the Census, 1999).
  
  
• By 1998, only 7.8% of Hispanics 25-years-old and over had obtained a bachelor's degree, as compared to the their white counterparts in which 16.8% of the population have received bachelors degrees (US Bureau of the Census, 1999).