Demographics of Hispanic and Latino Americans - Education

Education

It is a widely held idea among Americans that a college degree is essential to obtaining a stable occupation. Most Americans as a whole attain a high school diploma, while between 25 and 75 percent continue to postsecondary institutions. According to the U.S Census Bureau, Hispanics are among the least educated ethnic group. In 2000, about 530,000 Hispanics and Latinos 16–19 years of age were high school dropouts, yielding a dropout rate of 21.1 percent for all Hispanics and Latinos. 11 percent of Hispanics/Latinos have earned a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 17 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, 30 percent of non-Hispanic whites, and 49 percent of Asian Americans. Often, Hispanic and Latino youth begin schooling without the necessary economic and social resources that other children have. One frequent cause is their being the children of immigrant parents with low socioeconomic status and language barriers that result in a lack of knowledge about the U.S. education system. These unfavorable conditions frequently spawn others, such as weak parent-teacher relationships.

The overall average years of schooling for Hispanics and Latinos (10.5) does not include high school graduation (12 years). There is a notable education gap between foreign-born Hispanics, who have more difficulties with language barriers, and U.S.-born Hispanics. The latter only lag non-Hispanic Whites by 1.3 years of schooling, and nearly tie African Americans, as seen in the table below.

Table 1

Average Years of Schooling, by Gender, Ethnicity, and Nativity Men, by Nativity Women, by Nativity

Ethnicity All Foreign-Born US Born All Foreign-Born US Born Whites 13.6 13.6 Black 12.4 12.8 All Hispanics 10.5 9.5 12.2 10.8 9.8 12.4 Mexicans 9.8 8.5 12.1 10.1 8.6 12.2 Puerto Ricans 11.7 11.2 12.4 12.0 11.4 12.7 Cubans 12.7 12.4 13.6 12.9 12.5 14.2

(NOTE: The samples include individuals ages 25 to 59.)