Dreams Interrupted: A Mixed-Methods Research Project Exploring Latino College Completion

Abstract

Latino students are entering college at record numbers; Today, almost 3.8 million Latinos are enrolled in colleges and universities across the United States. Yet Latino students trail their White and Asian peers in attaining college degrees. The overall completion gap exceeds ten percent-age points. Although scholars and advocates have pointed to several different barriers facing Latino college students, a persistent narrative focuses on Latino students’ aversion to taking on student debt. In response, researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and UnidosUS undertook a multi-year mixed-method study to test and interrogate whether and how debt aversion affects Latino college completion. We sought to better understand how the current debt-driven higher education system affects college completion, paying particular attention to the barriers disproportionately affecting Latino students.

Primary Findings:
1.Although Latino students exhibit education debt aversion at higher rates than non-Latinos, that aversion to borrowing is deliberate, deeply connected to a desire to protect their families, and a reasonable response to external barriers to college access and completion. In other words, debt aversion is not an extricable or singular explanation for the college completion gap for Latino students.
2.Transportation is often the single thread holding together a precarious balancing act that allows the student to attend school while juggling multiple other responsibilities. Because transportation cuts across responsibilities related to work, school, and home, when that thread is broken, everything can unravel.