Latinos have been making gains across higher education, but it is time to start accelerating that progress, according to Deborah Santiago, co-founder, CEO and vice president for policy at Excelencia in Education, a Washington D.C.-based organization that seeks to advance Latino success in postsecondary education.
“We want all students to increase their achievement regardless of their background, but the only way you’re going to close achievement gaps is if you accelerate the success of students who have historically been underrepresented,” Santiago said.
Excelencia convened higher education and nonprofit leaders in Washington, D.C. late last week to celebrate programs and institutions that are doing particularly outstanding work advancing Latino student success at all levels of the educational pathway, from K-12 to graduate school.
Since 2011, Excelencia has recognized institutions and programs that demonstrate particular success addressing a range of challenges that Latino students might encounter as they progress through school as “Examples of Excelencia.”
“Every year it’s great to celebrate programs and practices across the country that have shown evidence of really serving Latino students,” Santiago said.
At the Celebracion de Excelencia, held at the Mayflower Hotel last Thursday night, four programs were recognized as the 2017 Examples of Excelencia, along with 19 finalists. The Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) at Bronx Community College; the bachelor’s of applied science in organizational leadership at South Texas College; the Preparing Undergraduates through Mentoring towards PhDs (PUMP) at California State University, Northridge; and Waukegan to College, a community-based organized based in Waukegan, Illinois, were recognized as the 2017 Examples of Excelencia.
According to recent research from the Pew Research Center, 3.6 million Hispanic students were enrolled in private and public college in 2016, a historic high for the U.S. That is compared to the 1.3 million who were enrolled in college in 1999. However, prior Pew research shows that in 2014, only 15 percent of Hispanics aged 24 to 29 held a baccalaureate degree, compared to 22 percent of Blacks, 41 percent of whites, and 63 percent of Asians.
