Hispanic Heritage Month began Sunday with a landmark. For the first time, a greater share of Hispanic high school graduates are enrolled in college than that of white graduates, according to the Pew Research Center.
Using U.S. Census Bureau data, the center reported 49 percent of young Hispanic high school graduates were enrolled in college in 2012 compared to 47 percent of white non-Hispanic graduates.
Despite a drop in overall college enrollment in 2012, the number of Hispanic students in college continued to rise.
UF seems to be following the trend, with a steady increase of Hispanic and Latino students over the past 10 years.
The enrollment of Hispanic and Latino students at UF for 2012-2013 was 17.36 percent, according to Olivia Garcia, the director of the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures.
Garcia said this number has increased from about 14 to 16 percent in previous years.
“I think there is a lot of self-selection bias,” she said. “The term ‘Hispanic’ is somewhat broad in general.”
Garcia said she thinks more Hispanic students are seeking higher education. She said both population growth and a change in the attitude of Hispanic and Latino cultures are reasons for the increase.
Even though the number of Hispanic students at UF has increased, Garcia said it still isn’t enough.
“It’s not completely representational when we look at the state population,” she said.
Although more Hispanic students are entering college, a smaller percentage is actually earning bachelor’s degrees compared to white students, according to Pew Research Center.
Solansh Hernandez, a 20-year-old business and psychology junior, has seen Hispanic students and her own family struggle to get through college.
“I have a couple of family members who couldn’t keep up with the material because they couldn’t fully understand English,” she said.
Hernandez herself has dealt with language barriers and discrimination based on her accent. Born in Cuba, she moved to the United States as a child to get a better education. But Hernandez still feels like a minority at a predominantly white university. She said finding a community at the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures has been a key to her success at UF.
“It’s been a home away from home for me,” she said.
Despite increased resources for and enrollment of Hispanic students, the work isn’t done for Garcia and other advocates.
“There’s always room for improvement,” she said. “We can always do more.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 9/17/2013 under the headline "Hispanic college enrollment on the rise"
