“Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap”

The national study, conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, surveyed 2,012 Latinos ages 16 and older from August – September 2009. It found that nearly nine-in-ten (89 percent) of Latino young adults ages 16 to 25 say that a college education is important for success in life, yet only about half that number – 48 percent –say that they themselves plan to get a college degree.

According to the study, the biggest reason for the gap between the high value Latinos place on education and their more modest aspirations to finish college appears to come from financial pressure to support a family. When asked why Latinos on average do not do as well as other students in school, more respondents in the Pew Hispanic Center survey blame poor parenting and poor English skills than blame poor teachers.
 

Read the report.