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
Latinos, as well as other underrepresented groups, often face significant challenges and barriers to pursuing higher education. In reality, racial disparities and discrimination persist in numerous aspects of society, especially in higher education. There are disparities in college enrollment rates, graduation rates, access to resources, and representation among faculty and staff members. READ MORE AT THE BOSTON GLOBE
Latino Conservation Week kicks off this weekend with dozens of events in California and almost 300 meetups across the nation. The program started ten years ago with just 16 events, meant to get the Hispanic community outdoors and motivated to protect the environment.
Next month, the Hispanic Access Foundation will launch an air-quality monitoring program called "El Aire que Respiramos", which means "The air we breathe." It is a collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency that will place air-monitoring equipment in Los Angeles, La Mirada, San Bernardino and Thermal. READ MORE AT PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE
Cisco Systems, the multinational tech giant based in San Jose, has no Latino on its board of directors. Ditto for Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif.
Ditto for Tesla — which moved offices to Austin, Texas, from Palo Alto last year — and for a host of other Fortune 100 companies with millions of Latino customers, employees and suppliers. Among them: Amazon, FedEx, Albertsons, Kroger, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Exxon Mobil, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, United Parcel Service and Berkshire Hathaway.
Latinos are the nation’s largest ethnic or racial minority — accounting for 18.9% of the population — and its fastest-growing group. READ MORE AT YAHOO FINANCE
Hispanics are now confirmed as the largest demographic group in Texas with more than 12 million residents, while non-Hispanic white population is estimated to be 11.9 million, according to new data from the Census Bureau.
Texas added 262,000 new white residents, as well as about 223,000 Hispanic residents from July 2021 to July 2022, but overall Hispanic population outnumbered white population by 128,938 people. READ MORE AT THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Hollywood companies are facing a series of challenges, including technology disruption, increasing competition, online piracy, economic slowdown, and, importantly, the pressure to demonstrate a continuous growth trajectory. By ignoring the U.S. Latino consumer group, Hollywood may also risk alienating the major source of demographic growth in the country for years to come.
It's time to make Latinos visible again, behind the cameras, in leading roles, and as decision-makers at the C-suites. Hollywood is in the spotlight; industry leaders must recognize the untapped potential of the U.S. Latino consumer group and take decisive action to foster inclusivity, ensuring a thriving and culturally rich future for the entertainment industry. READ MORE AT FORBES
Some educators and advocates say the best way to break the cycle of poverty is by accessing well-paid STEM jobs, as well as the many scholarships that go unawarded each year due to a lack of applicants. In some places, the door seems tightly shut. In Silicon Valley, for example, where the largest number of STEM jobs in the country are concentrated, and where the Latino population is almost 50 percent, less than 3 percent of high-tech, high-wage jobs are filled by Latino professionals. READ MORE AT GOVTECH
The nation’s fast-growing Hispanic population made dramatic strides in educational attainment in recent decades — especially among younger age groups. The number of people of Hispanic or Latino origin (referred to as the Hispanic population in this article) more than quadrupled from 14.6 million 1980 to 62.1 million 2021, and their share of the U.S. population jumped from 6.2% to 18.7%.
As the Hispanic population grew so did its educational attainment, especially high school graduation rates. In 1996, 58.2% of the Hispanic population ages 25 to 29 graduated from high school; by 2021, the share increased to 88.5%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. READ MORE AT UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU
