A national report on Latino college success in the U.S. says Minnesota, like the nation as a whole, has a large equity gap.
Exelencia in Education says 19 percent of Latino adults over 25 in the state had attained an associate degree or higher, compared to 42 percent of all adults, through the 2011-12 school year.
The group also says 32 percent of Minnesota Latino students graduated within 150 percent of program time for first-time, full-time freshmen, compared to 52 percent of all students. That 20 percent difference in graduation rate is worse than the national average of 9 percent, the study said.
Minnesota has the 28th-highest Latino population in the nation, the study said, with Latinos making up 7 percent of the K-12 population and 5 percent of the overall population.
Some national notes from the study:
- Latinos continue to be much younger than the national and state populations overall.
Nationally, the median age for Latinos was 27 compared to a median age of 42 for white non-Hispanics. - Latinos’ are a larger share of the K-12 public school population than they are of national and state populations overall.
Nationally, Latino youth represent 22 percent of the K-12 public school population and 17 percent of the U.S. population overall. - Latino adults have lower degree attainment levels than other groups.
Nationally, 20 percent of Latino adults had a post-secondary degree compared to 36 percent of all adults in the U.S. - The graduation rates for Latinos are lower than that of white, non-Hispanics.
Nationally, the gap in degree attainment between Latino and white non-Hispanic cohorts of first-time, full-time students was about 9 percent.
