Breaking Down Barriers: Understanding Hispanic High School Students’ Perceptions on the Transition to College

Breaking Down Barriers: Understanding Hispanic High School Students’ Perceptions on the Transition to College.

Hispanic students make up roughly 18 percent of all college students and are one of the largest minority groups on U.S. campuses. However, Hispanic students tend to meet ACT College Readiness Benchmarks at lower rates, on average, than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. In addition, Hispanic students may face added barriers in navigating the landscape of the college application process, leading to lower rates of educational attainment.

To better understand these hurdles and how to help solve them, the Center and Univision held a series of focus groups to discuss the college-going process with 44 parents and 50 students, who were in either 11th or 12th grade and were predominantly first-generation, college-bound students. Both students and parents were interviewed separately and were asked questions about college expectations, future career aspirations and ways to get there, financial aid, college admissions testing, college readiness and navigating post-secondary education.

“This research should be a wakeup call to education leaders and the country as a whole,” says Jim Larimore, chief officer for ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning. “The Hispanic population is growing rapidly in the U.S. and we think it’s essential to ask parents and students about their experiences, listen to their insights and then examine what we can all do to improve outcomes. We’re glad to have Univision, a trusted leader in communications, and a key resource to the Hispanic population, as a partner in this effort.”

“We’re proud to work with ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning on this important research as part of our ongoing partnership to positively impact Hispanic student success,” said Univision’s Executive Vice President of Government and Corporate Affairs, Jessica Herrera-Flanigan. “While Hispanic students face some hurdles, we’re confident that together, we can make progress and help ensure that more students are better prepared to pursue college, career, and future success in their lives.”

The organizers say U.S. policymakers and stakeholders need to do the following:

1. Improve opportunities for students to discuss the transition to college with guidance counselors or other high school staff
   
   Proper guidance is needed for Hispanic students to make sense of and complete the necessary steps to successfully transition to and through postsecondary education. Having time set aside for group conversations or having regularly scheduled meetings for a student to talk with a guidance counselor to discuss all aspects of the college process would be helpful for students. Students in the focus groups said they wished that school staff would be more proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to helping students as they are applying for college. Proactive efforts may also increase students’ confidence by helping them feel better prepared for testing, especially in areas surrounding topics that students may not have covered in class. It may also help students to have more time for practice questions and tests and spend more time discussing the essay portions of standardized tests.
2. Provide opportunities for parents to be included in the college application process and have questions answered
   
   Including parents in the process is vital for both parents and students to understand and support each other, answer questions and ensure that deadlines are being met. Univision offers parent/family college fairs that give them the opportunity to speak with experts and have questions answered about the college application process. Additionally, having a time specifically set aside for parents, such as a College Night at the student’s high school, providing recorded videos of these events for parents that cannot attend, or having an email newsletter for parents about the college application process, may help them understand not only the application process but also what comes after that, such as applying for college housing or financial aid.
3. Increase resources to ensure first-generation or minority students’ college success
   
   High schools and universities should take into consideration how first-generation or minority students may transition into college, especially as a lack of financial aid is often the largest obstacle for Hispanic students for attending and completing their college degree. Specifically, making students aware of fee waivers for standardized tests and waivers for or access to free test preparation materials, such as ACT® Online Prep or ACT® Academy™, is important in order to give students the tools to prepare and take the necessary tests. Univision also puts valuable tools and resources into the hands of parents. Some of these resources can be found on the Univision website: univision.com/act and univision.com/contigo.