Less Than 6 Million Latino Adults Have A College Degree
June 7, 2011 
10 Comments
Recently I was perusing Census data to determine, exactly, how many Latinos in this country have college degrees. Given that Latinos are a fast growing portion of the U.S. population, educated leaders are a must, even more so are educated Latino leaders.
Out of 31.8 million adult Latinos in the United States,
- 10.6 million did not complete high school and are ineligible for postsecondary degree programs;
- 2.4 million (7.5%) are currently enrolled in an institution of higher education;
- 5.8 million (18.3%) have completed a postsecondary degree program;
- One out of every three Hispanic degree holders only has an associate’s degree;
- Half of all Latino degree holders ended their postsecondary studies upon the completion of their bachelor’s degrees;
- 884,000 (2.7%) Latinos in the United States have completed graduate degree programs;
- 147,000 (.5%) Latinos have obtained a doctoral degree.
Unfortunately, as we can see from the following data, the U.S. Latino community has a long way to go towards creating a sizable and educated leadership class. Later this week I will expand on these trends, touching on how Latinas in particular are likely to step into these leadership roles as Hispanic baby boomers begin retirement.
[Photo By Linuxerist]
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Out of 50 million plus…only 7.5% are currently enrolled in Higher Education. Wow! Speaks volumes about the need and opportunities to motivate our youth to pursue some form of Higher Education. Creating awareness and rethinking our approach seems necessary.
The first one about “10.6 million did not complete high school and are ineligible for postsecondary degree programs” is inaccurate.
You do not need a high school diploma to go to post secondary. You can take the GED; you can go to a junior college, if are an adult (even without a high school diploma or GED). If you start in junior college, you can then transfer to a university and finish with a college degree.