Report: College degree gaps persist between Latino, Anglo Texans

Latino students in Texas still lag behind their Anglo peers in several important measures involving college completion, according to a new report from a national group. In Texas, 33 percent of working-age adults have an associate's degree or higher, compared to only 16 percent of working-age Latinos. The U.S. average is 38 percent.

At the same time, graduation rates for Latino undergraduates are nearly 10 percentage points lower than for Anglos, 30 percent to 40 percent for first-time, full-time freshmen.

State Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, announced the release of the report, "Latino College Completion: Texas," and discussed a new plan to address the issue of Latino degree completion, called, "Graduation Texas: Engage, Advise, Retain, Graduate," at a press conference today in San Antonio.

A fact sheet (download the .pdf via EdExcelencia.org) shows that between 2006 and 2008, the number of Latinos who earned undergraduate degrees in Texas grew by 7 percent, compared to just 4 percent for other groups. Among the top 10 states enrolling Latinos, Texas had one of largest increase in degrees granted to Latinos over a three-year period.

"The data is compelling; the relative youth, growth, and current levels of educational attainment among Latinos show that our nation will not return to world leadership in college completion without a tactical plan focused on increasing Latino degree attainment," said Deborah Santiago, co-founder of Excelencia in Education and its vice president for policy and research. "Nationally, Latinos will have to almost triple the number of degrees earned currently to reach the goal by 2020. As the state with the second highest proportion of Latinos, Texas is vital to America's future