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Latino enrollment in higher education institutions has been growing with the Hispanic population, and Latinos have made substantial strides in earning college degrees. But the elimination of DEI programs is occurring as Latinos' degree-earning is still failing to keep pace with that of white students. READ MORE AT NBC NEWS

Hispanic Americans currently make up nearly one-fifth of the American population, according to 2022 Census data, and they are the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the country. They have also become a powerful force in the economy, having contributed an estimated $3.2 trillion of economic output in 2021, according to a report last month by the Latino Donor Collaborative — which would give them the fifth-largest GDP in the world if they were grouped as an individual nation. READ MORE AT FINANCIAL PLANNING

U.S. Latinos are key when it comes the nation’s engineering and technology workforce, according to a new joint report from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC). According to the report, the economic contributions the Latino community makes to the U.S. are immense. The contributions are significant enough that if the national Latino population were its own country, it would have the fifth-largest GDP in the world, $3.2 trillion, despite comprising only 19.1% of the U.S. population. READ MORE AT DIVERSE EDUCATION

Millions of patients are not getting the quality care they deserve from doctors who look like them and speak their language. Research has shown that newly trained physicians of color answer the call to return to their communities and provide culturally competent care that results in improved patient outcomes.

At the same time, the Latino community needs increased representation for Latino physicians in leadership positions on college campuses and in hospitals. We must act and hold educational and health care organizations accountable for the sake of our patients. READ MORE AT CAL MATTERS

The road to higher educational attainment runs through every Hispanic household in America. With a population of 63.7 million, Hispanics are the country’s largest minority group, and today one in every five students in higher ed is Hispanic. The Lumina Foundation-Gallup study conducted last year found that about one in four Hispanic students say they frequently or occasionally experienced discrimination, harassment, and disrespect and felt unsafe as they pursued their educations. READ MORE AT FORBES

The total economic output of U.S. Latinos reached $3.2 trillion in 2021, inching closer to Germany's and staying ahead of India. A report shows U.S. Latino buying power and economic output grew by more than 14% despite the pandemic's disproportionate impact on Latino communities.

While the report focused on the overall strength of the U.S. Latino economy, it did not address the massive economic inequalities still facing Hispanics nationwide. READ MORE AT AXIOS

The Hispanic community is taking the U.S. economy by storm. Projections suggest that Latinos will hold $2.6 trillion in purchasing power over the next three years, a growth that outpaces that of non-Hispanic households. Despite these promising statistics, Latino individuals are still behind financially, for a variety of reasons. READ MORE AT MORNINGSTAR

A Gallup poll found that over half of Latino college students considered leaving college last year, a steep increase from 2020.

For decades, Hispanic enrollment at four-year colleges and universities has been on the rise, and it saw a new high in 2022. But difficulties, particularly with affordability and accessibility, are increasingly making it hard for Latino students to remain enrolled, according to a Lumina Foundation-Gallup “State of Higher Education” poll. READ MORE AT NBC NEWS

The Hispanic population in the United States has been one of the fastest-growing demographics over the past two decades. Still, there are a number of financial disparities between Hispanic and Latino Americans and their white peers, especially Latina women. Hispanic women earn a median annual salary of $39,511, compared with a median of $55,330 among white women and $61,740 for white men, according to Labor Department data.

Hispanic households of any race have a median net worth of around $31,700, compared with $187,300 among white, non-Hispanic households, the most recent Census Bureau data reveals. READ MORE AT CNBC

The U.S. Latino population, now about 1 in 5 Americans, is projected to continue increasing through the year 2060, when over 1 in 4 Americans are likely to be Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections.

Hispanics are now 19.1% of the U.S. population but are projected to make up 26.9% of the population in less than four decades. Meanwhile, the non-Hispanic white population is projected to continue to decline from 58.9% now to 44.9% by 2060. READ MORE AT NBC NEWS

In 2021, nearly 2.5 million Latinos in the United States held advanced degrees such as master’s degrees or doctorates. This represented a huge increase over 2000, when 710,000 Latinos held advanced degrees. The shift reflects Latinos’ broader increase in postsecondary enrollment and rising educational attainment.

Despite the large increase in the number of Latinos with advanced degrees, they accounted for just 8% of all advanced degree holders in the U.S. in 2021 .READ MORE AT PEW RESEARCH CENTER

With the increasing competitiveness of the job market and growing disparities in resources for low-income students, the public education system is often strained in their efforts to meet the growing needs of students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

However, many forward-thinking school districts are taking innovative steps to forge partnerships in their community that can enhance students’ educational outcomes. One such district is Miami-Dade County, which has begun working with a local nonprofit to bridge the gaps in students’ learning. READ MORE AT FORBES

Retirement planning can look vastly different between older and younger generations of U.S. Latinos, as well as those who are immigrants versus descendants, or who came to the United States with family or solo. Older relatives may send money back to the country they emigrated from to help family members who remained, or in hopes of building a home where they will live out the rest of their lives. Younger generations, meanwhile, might use the stock market to grow their wealth and stay in the U.S., experts said. READ MORE AT MORNINGSTAR

Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates a U.S. population of 64 million that’s diverse, growing and constantly changing. But can a single term like Hispanic or Latino describe a group with such varied ancestry and geographic origin? Mark Hugo Lopez from the Pew Research Center and Cristina Mora from UC Berkeley’s Department of Sociology join John Yang to discuss. READ AT PBS WEEKEND

The U.S. Postal Service today kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct.15) with new festive Piñatas! stamps at the 36th Annual Piñata Festival. These Forever stamps come in four designs — two donkeys and two seven-pointed stars — celebrating the traditional Mexican fiesta favorite. This is the third consecutive year the Postal Service has issued a Hispanic-themed stamp. In September 2021, USPS issued Day of the Dead stamps, and in July 2022, USPS issued Mariachi stamps. News of the stamps is being shared with the hashtag #PinatasStamps. READ MORE AT USPS

California, Texas, Florida, Arizona and New Mexico are the states with the highest Hispanic population. These states also have the highest concentration of Latino-owned businesses. In California, 85,000 of the total 764,000 businesses are owned by Hispanics or Latinos, which is equivalent to over 11% of all businesses in the state. These businesses provide jobs to an estimated 670,000 people and contribute $25 billion towards the state economy. These figures were shared by the Latino Policy and Politics Institute in August 2023. READ MORE AT YAHOO FINANCE

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15 every year. It was started in 1968 and has become a national celebration that includes arts festivals and music events from New York to Los Angeles. How did Hispanic Heritage Month start? What famous Hispanic Americans are celebrated today? And what is this year’s theme? Find out the answers to these questions and more. READ MORE AT WE ARE TEACHERS

Few words have soured for me like the word “toxic.” Paired with words like “masculinity,” it might sound like it’s saying something, but I’m not actually convinced it says much beyond “this broad category of social behavior is bad, just trust me.” But when the question “Do Chicanos have a toxic gratitude problem?” was posed to me, it landed in an interesting way, perhaps because it’s something I’ve long suspected to be true but was never sure if it applied to any experiences beyond my own. I still don’t like the term “toxic gratitude.” I’d rather call it something cooler, like “Si Dios Quiere Syndrome.” Much better. Regardless, the question still stands: Do Chicanos, or, I suppose one could also ask, do Latinos in the U.S. have a gratitude problem? In other words, are we too content with scraps? READ MORE AT LA TIMES

Crossing the stage and graduating is not an easy task, and for Latino students it seems to be even more difficult, as the education gap between Latino and white, non-Hispanic students has widened within the last four years.

A recent report by Excelencia in Education, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that promotes Latino student achievement, shows that the number of Latino students enrolled in colleges is up but the graduation rate has not seen an increase. READ MORE AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Although the situation is improving, Latinos and especially Mexican Americans, remain very underrepresented in US health professions that require advanced degrees, according to a study published today in the journal Health Affairs. The study by George Washington University researchers is the first to examine the representation of the four largest Latino populations in the US health workforce and the findings raise concerns about the lack of diversity in the US health workforce. READ MORE AT MILKEN INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH