Title: Policy, Politics and Population
Headings: Policy, Politics and Population: December 2011
Policy, Politics and Population: December 2011
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Lawmakers can track trends and gain valuable insight from the census.
Older Boomers
Children
Poverty
Education
Rural vs. Metro

Content: Education
As the growing numbers of young Latinos enter school, state policymakers recognize their educational success is critical to providing states with a well-educated workforce and ensuring economic vitality. Improving college graduation rates has become a national and state focus to meet future workforce demands and stimulate the economy. And college graduation rates of Latinos—the largest and fastest growing minority group in the nation—is a specific focus. While the aging boomer population is largely Anglo, the rapidly growing younger population is largely Latino. Support for Social Security and Medicare for the older population will rely on a well-educated, competitive Latino workforce. More than one in five K-12 students is now Latino. The number of Latinos enrolling in college is increasing rapidly—24 percent within the last year. This is good news, since Latino adults have the lowest educational attainment of any U.S. population group. Only 19 percent of Latinos have a degree, compared with 26 percent of African Americans and 42 percent of Anglos. Simply enrolling in college, however, does not guarantee graduation.