Black and Latino Students are Reconsidering College Education

Fewer male, Latino, and Black high school seniors are planning to go to college when compared to three years ago.

YouthTruth, a nonprofit, surveyed 22,000 high school students of the class of 2022 and compared results with a similar survey of the class of 2019, Inside Higher Ed reports. The survey found that the percentage of Latino students who want to go to college dropped eight percentage points from 79% in 2019 to 71% in 2022. For Black students, the drop was seven percentage points from 79% to 72%. And for all male students, the drop was seven percentage point from 74% to 67%.

“Uncertainty lingers, but not equally,” the report says. “Compared to their peers, a higher percentage of Hispanic or Latinx students—14 percent—are unsure about what they expect to do next, while a lower percentage—just 9 percent—of seniors who are white face such uncertainty.”

WORK OVER COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Fewer students also say they plan to attend community college when compared to three years ago. In 2022, only 19% of high school students had plans to attend community college. In 2019, that percentage was 25%. According to the survey, these students are more likely to be Latino than white, 27% versus 15%.

“We are seeing this deferring of higher education as an option in communities where community college was more the option as they are considering work instead,” Deborah A. Santiago, CEO of Excelencia in Education, tells Inside Higher Ed. “The opportunity cost of going to college for low-income, first-gen Latino students, and especially for men of color, is much more acute right now with inflation, low unemployment and increasing costs of going to college. We do think institutions need to be more cognizant of this and helping to meet students where they are at by offering learning-and-earning opportunities or more clear pathways to the workforce.”

GAY AND TRANSGENDER STUDENTS CONSIDER DROPPING OUT

The survey also found that 37% of gay and transgender high school students report that they’ve seriously considered dropping out of school.

“Additionally, a higher percentage of students who are non-binary or gender non-conforming—39 percent—and students who prefer to self-describe or self-identify their gender—32 percent—report having seriously thought about dropping out of school, compared to just 17 percent” of female students and 16 percent of male students, according to the report. “Finally, just over one in four of today’s seniors who are members of the LGBTQ+ community—26 percent—report that they’ve seriously considered dropping out of school as compared to just 14 percent of their peers, a gap that reminds us that these students, in particular, have, in other research, reported experiencing being ‘pushed out’ of school.”

Sources: Inside Higher Ed, YouthTruth

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