Estudiantes Hispanos

Hispanic students perform better in colleges with larger Hispanic communities, UF study finds

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Hispanic students at community colleges with large Hispanic populations are morelikely to earn higher grades and complete their courses, according to a study headed by a professor at the University of Florida’s College of Education.
Educators have long believed that a ‘criticalmass’ of like students is vital to make minority students feel at home on college campuses – but this study, appearing in the February issue of journal Research in Higher Education, may be the firstto find statistical evidence to confirm that belief.
‘These data suggest that if colleges are really serious about reaching out to minority groups, they need to think in terms of clusters, notindividuals,’ said professor Linda Serra Hagedorn, chairwoman of UF’s Department of Educational Administration and Policy. ‘ If you are the only Latino or African – American on your succeed academically –but if you are surrounded by people who share your cultural background, your chances of success improve’.
Hagedorn is lead investigator and director of the Transfer and Retention of Urban CommunityCollege Students (or TRUCCS) project, a multiyear, comprehensive study of the educational outcomes of 5,000 community college students at the nine community college campuses in the Los Angeles area.Investigators queried the students on their backgrounds, attitudes and experiences, and compared that data to the students’ transcript records.
When they looked at students who self-identified asHispanic, the researchers found that students at largely Hispanic community colleges had better educational outcomes than students at colleges where Hispanic students were rare. The differences were smallbut statistically significant. Age, involvement in campus activities and even ability to speak English were less predictive of Hispanic students’ success.
The study produced some surprising findings....