May 16, 2018
HACU Chief Advocacy Officer speaks at education writer’s national seminar held at USC
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ (HACU) Chief Advocacy Officer Luis Maldonado was a speaker on May 16, 2018, at
The Education Writers Association National Seminar, “Room for All? Diversity in Education & the Media,” held at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif. EWA’s National Seminar is a multiday conference for journalists on the education that includes sessions covering education from early childhood through graduate school.
The panel session, “Why Hispanic Students Do – or Don’t – Graduate,” included a discussion on degree attainment and practices institutions are adopting to promote the success of Hispanic Students.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez of Southern California Public Radio served as moderator for the panel that included:
• Luis Maldonado, HACU
• Ninfa Murillo, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
• Andrés Castro Samayoa, Boston College
According to the latest data available about Hispanic higher education:
• 29.5% of Hispanics 25 and over have not completed high school as of 2017, compared to 5.9% of non-Hispanic whites.
• 17.2% of Hispanics have at least a bachelor’s degree and 5.0% an advanced degree, as of 2017, compared to 38.1% and 14.3% for non-Hispanic whites.
On a more positive note, 72.0% of Hispanic recent high school graduates ages 16-24 were enrolled in college in 2016, compared to 69.7% for whites.
Altogether 3.29 million Hispanics were enrolled in non-profit institutions in 2016, including Puerto Rico, of which 46.0 percent (1,403,736) of Hispanic undergraduates were attending two-year institutions (compared to 36.6% of all undergraduates).
To download the fact sheet, click here.
HACU represents more than 470 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Spain. The association’s headquarters are located in San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices in Washington D.C. and Sacramento, California. HACU is the only national association representing existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).