Community college

With the state of the economy and rapid growth in student population nation wide, community colleges are looking more appealing than ever for young Latinos. It is important that we make sure that these young students are fully aware of the opportunities that are available to them at community college. A good first step in this process would be to ensure that high school students are instructed on how to complete a FAFSA form, and how to transfer from a community college to a four-year institution.

With a massive increase in the number of Latino students in today’s public schools, many will soon be considering college. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the Latino student population has almost doubled since 1990. Currently the nation’s public schools contain approximately 10 million Latino students, which translate to about one-fifth of the entire U.S. student public school population. This means that many young Latinos will soon be graduating and asking: What’s next? In 2005, only 12 percent of Latinos 25 and older had received a bachelor’s degree, a startling number when you consider the ramifications this could mean to today’s increasing Latino community. One way to boost the number of Latino students gaining a bachelor’s degree is to bring them more awareness of today’s community colleges.

Many young Latinos graduating high school will be the first in their families to attend college. This generational issue means that they will have much less help when trying to understand the process of applying for and paying for a college education. When I graduated high school I wanted to attend college but had no idea where to start. My parents had never gone to college, and they were also unfamiliar with the necessary steps to get into a university. I grew up in a low-income home and the sheer cost of attending a university was enough for my parents to suggest that I instead join the military. At the time, I did not know how to apply for financial aid, and I was not aware of the ability to transfer into a four-year university from a community college. Four years after high school I finally learned how to apply for aid, take transferable classes, and apply to a university. It turned out that I decided not to join the military, and I did eventually get into The University of Texas through transferring from Austin Community College. I figured this process out mostly on my own, and learning it has enabled me to assist my siblings and other family members who now have goals to enter college. I still wonder if I would have started college earlier had someone explained to me, while I was in high school, all that community colleges have to offer.

Many have criticized the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for being overly confusing and hindering many young students ability to gain loans. This process can be especially perplexing for first generation Latino students because it will be the first time that they or their parents have ever seen the form. This issue has encouraged the Sallie Mae fund start a bilingual “How to Pay for College” national bus tour. Sallie Mae is the company that provides most of the loans to students seeking aid. The bus tour travels to low-income, pre-dominantly Latino schools to inform the students and community about the financial aid process. This bus tour is a great first step in assisting first generation college students to find a way to go to and pay for college. By making the FAFSA easier to fill out, barriers that I encountered when considering a higher education will be removed.

According to a report put out by New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, almost 98 percent of Latino students say that they have a desire to go to college. Further 60 percent of young Latinos say that neither of their parents has attended college. When I look at these numbers I see a reflection of myself. I know that if I would have been given more information about community college, I most likely would have begun attending one right after high school. By giving high school Latino students crucial information about the opportunities of community college, I’m certain that many more of the 98 percent who dream of going to a university will achieve their goal. I know I did. Thanks community college.