Hispanic Student Enrollments Reach New Highs in 2011

According to an analysis of newly available U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center, for the first time, the number of 18- to 24-year-old Hispanics enrolled in college exceeded 2 million and reached a record 16.5 percent share of all college enrollments.

In 2010, Hispanics became the largest minority group on the nation's college campuses.

Hispanics make up 25 percent of 18- to 24-year-old students enrolled in two-year colleges.

The center also found that in 2010, 140,000 Latinos received bachelor's degrees and 112,000 received associate degrees. Latinos make up 22 percent of all degree recipients.

Hispanics are the nation's largest minority group, making up about 16.5 percent of the U.S. population. Among the 30 million young people ages 18 to 24, 20 percent, are Hispanics.

In October 2011, 18- to 24-year-old college enrollment reached a record 12.6 million students.

Between 2010 and 2011, the number of young Hispanics enrolled in college grew by 15 percent to 2.1 million. Hispanic college enrollment growth accounted for 74 percent of the growth in college student enrollments over the last year. In October 2006, Hispanics were only 11 percent of all college students.

On the high school level, more than 12.4 million Hispanics were enrolled in the nation's public schools pre-K through 12^th grade in October 2011, and Hispanic students make up nearly 25 percent of the nation's public school enrollment, up from 20 percent in 2005 and 17 percent in 2000.

In 2011, 76 percent of Hispanics ages 18 to 24 had finished high school, the highest level of Hispanic high school completion ever attained.

The center also reported that Hispanic children are less likely to enroll in nursery schools overall than other children. In October 2011, Hispanic children were only 20 percent of all nursery school enrollments at both private and public schools.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2036, Hispanics are projected to compose 33 percent of the nation's children ages 3 to 17.