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Latina/o Student Access and Success
in Postsecondary Education
Complex situations confront Latina/os in postsecondary institutions. This list
presents a good starting point to understanding key issues. It touches on the prominent
areas of research, policy, and
professional practice.
 Student
Success
What are new and evolving models
of student success in postsecondary
institutions? What do successful students do? What does success
mean? How can it be enhanced for
Latina/o students?
Demographics
What do the shifting demographics
of Latina/os in the USA and in postsecondary
institutions mean? How will college
be accessible to burgeoning under-served
and marginalized communities? What
is the proper role of community
colleges in accomodating this? What
is the significance of national,
ethnic, and racial categorization
for each succeeding generation of
Latina/o students?
Finances
What financial situations enable
or prevent college success? When
and why is financial aid used and
not used? In what ways are Latina/os
able to financially succeed (or
not) upon graduation? Does "return
on investment" exert equal
influence across groups, and how
does it influence employment and
educational (drop-out, community
college, state university, private
university) choices?
Equal
opportunity/equity
What opportunities exist, and
who has access or even knowledge
of them? Is access equal when compared
to Anglos or other ethnicities?
How can standardized tests and counselors
restrict equity? How are opportunities different
within various Latina/o groups (by
gender, national origin, language
ability, wealth, skin color)?
Organizational
support
Which organizations and groups
influence Latina/o education? What
control do Latina/os have over them?
Is support rendered as the institutions
intend?
Hispanic-Serving
Institutions
What is the role of our Hispanic/Latino-serving
universities and community colleges? Why do some
have greater success at educating certain
populations? Is a "critical mass" necessary to
create a suitable educational environment? Why
is there especially high enrollment at certain
community colleges? What role can Latino
instructors play to increase graduation rates?
Retention/attrition
How are attrition rates measured,
and how accurate are they? What
does this mean, in comparison with
other groups? When and why do some
Latina/os stay and others leave?
What past or future experiences
correlate with completion of a degree?
Cultural
identity
How do Latina/os see themselves
and others, before, during, and
after attending college? How and
why are identities either exhibited
or minimized? How compatible are
the students' cultures with academic
culture? What are the historical
roots of each, and why?
Language
What are the ramifications of language
fluency and/or "native"
status? How do Latina/os and the
university itself interpret various
dialects (Midwestern/Broadcast English,
Academic
English, Chicano English, Puertorriqueño
English, etc.)? What forms of obstruction
and assistance are available, and
why?
Acculturation/assimilation
How do implicit and explicit policies
influence Latina/o assimilation?
Do postsecondary institutions incorporate,
accept, exclude, suppress, or ignore
Latina/os? Who exerts each pressure,
and how do individuals reconcile
these pressures while still getting
an education? What is lost and gained
as they assimilate into the academic
world and into non-Latino society
itself?
Compiled by Kip Austin Hinton for
PoliMemos
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