Title: Behind the Latino college degree gap - The Hechinger Report
Headings: Behind the Latino college degree gap
Behind the Latino college degree gap
Latinos are the least likely ethnic or racial group to get a college education, new report says
Jill Barshay

Content: Jesse Pratt
Latino Americans, the largest and the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States, are half as likely to hold a college degree as non-Hispanic white adults, an education gap that has been widening since 2000, according to a June 2018 report. “For us, it was surprising just how low the Latino degree attainment numbers are and how significant the gaps are in certain states,” said Andrew Howard Nichols, senior director of higher education research and data analytics at The Education Trust, a nonprofit group that conducts research and advocates for low-income students. “ Everyone is pushing degree attainment. But we won’t reach our goals for a college-educated workforce if we ignore the racial gaps that exist.” Fewer than a quarter, or 22.6 percent, of Latino Americans ages 25 to 64 held a two-year college degree or higher in 2016, the report said. By comparison, more than 30 percent of black American adults had a college degree, and nearly half, or 47.1 percent of white adults did. That’s nearly a 25 percentage point gap in college attainment between Latinos and whites. Latino education varies a lot from state to state. In Florida, a third of Latino adults hold a college degree. The number of Latinos with college degrees is rapidly growing in Florida and the Latino-white gap is one of the smallest at 10 percentage points.