Rising price of education costs Latinos

Latino faculty and students take on tuition hike

By Michele Chan

Audio interview prepared by Andres Gonzalez

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppUTVpS3es]

After the University of Maryland announced in Janu­ary that the tuition freeze would end this coming fall semester, concern rose over how this would affect La­tino student enrollment in four-year higher education institutions.

Professor Alberto F. Cabrera in the Department of Edu­cation Leadership, Higher Education and International Education, said because the Latino community was so diverse, the impact would be varied, but for first-gen­eration college students, the raise in tuition, estimated around three percent, could have a “tremendous im­pact.”

According to a 2004 report by the Educational Policy Institute, under 50 percent of Latino youth had a parent who received a college education, while roughly 14 per­cent had a bachelor’s degree or higher. This rate is half of the national average.

Cabrera said the educational gap could be a factor in the difficulty some Latino students face when financing education.

Adriana Rosas, a junior history major, faced financial difficulty before the increase in tuition. Rosas said over the past summer, she planned to delay returning to the university due to financial constraints. Eventually, Ro­sas said she worked out a plan for financial aid with her parents.

“When you have two working parents, it’s worrisome trying to figure out how I’m going to pay,” Rosas said.

In response to the increasing costs to attend four-year higher-education institutions, Cabrera said more Latino students would seek two-year or community college educations, which reduce transportation and housing costs.

U-Md. costs over $21,400 annually, while two semes­ters at Montgomery College costs approximately $4,092 for residents.

“For Latino students with two working parents, if there is not enough financial aid, they’re not going to even at­tempt a four-year college,” Jennifer Sanchez, a junior community health major said. “Community college is just more feasible.”

When faced with the option to take out student loans to finance her education, Rosas asked, “Who wants to graduate with so many loans?”

Cabrera suggested Latino students faced with finan­cial constraints seek financial aid, but too often, Latino students do not have enough information about these resources.

Cabrera placed the responsibility of encouraging in­creased four-year higher-education enrollment for La­tino students on the Obama administration, noting the increased funding for opportunities like the Federal Pell Grant Program, a need-based grant program. By 2011, President Obama’s request would increase the maxi­mum award by $160.

Ashwani Jain, a junior business and government and politics major and Maryland state student coordinator for Organizing for America, the Obama administration’s grassroots campaign, said the Pell Grant increase “will allow more students, including Latinos, to go to col­lege that wouldn’t be going otherwise.” Jain said that increasing education among young people would make America better able to compete on the global arena.

Cabrera questioned “to what extent the institutions, colleges and universities, are working with Latino stu­dents and their families via financial aid to bring about grants and other financial opportunities.”

Rosa said that finding sources for funding her educa­tion was necessary.

“You have to do what you have to do to graduate,” Rosas said.

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Posted by admin on Mar 31 2010. Filed under Local News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry