Baseline

Some facts I dug up from various web sites about Latinos and education:

*A lack of English-language ability is a prime characteristic of Latino dropouts. Almost 40 percent do not speak English well. The 14 percent of Hispanic 16- to 19-year- olds who have poor English skills have a dropout rate of 59 percent.

* Among Latino high school graduates, less than one in four complete high school with the UC/CSU required courses needed to gain admission into a state university.

* The most recent studies underline the problem of getting enough Latinos into school and college. Latinos have the highest dropout rates, the lowest college participation rate and the lowest percentage of adults with a college degree among racial groups. Only 22 percent of young Latinos enroll in college (compared to 32 percent for blacks, 60 percent for Asians and 43 percent for whites), and only 8 percent of adult Latinos have a college degree (compared to 18 percent for blacks, 45 percent for Asians and 37 percent for whites).

* The rate of Latino high school graduates in California going directly to college is 43 percent, while 47 percent of white, 49 percent of black and more than 70 percent of Asian students enroll in college directly after graduating high school.

* A University of Southern California study in 2004 found that half of Latino parents and 43 percent of Latino young adults surveyed could not name a single source of college financial aid. But 75 percent of young Latino adults who had never attended college or dropped out said they would have been more likely to see it through if they had better information on scholarships, need-based grants and loans.

* More than half of all Latino survey respondents incorrectly believed that a student must be a U.S. citizen in order to apply for college financial aid. 1 in 4 respondents believed parents need to be U.S. citizens in order for students to apply for college financial aid. Most respondents over-estimated the costs of attending California State University and University of California campuses.

* California population (2000): Whites 44%, Asians 12%, Latinos 35%, Blacks 7%

* UC enrollment: Whites 43%, Asians 37%, Latinos 14%, Blacks 3%
- Less than nine percent of graduate students in the UC system
are Latinos

* CSU enrollment: Whites 43%, Asians 23%, Latinos 25%, Blacks 6%

* Average yearly earnings by education level:
High School Dropout: $19,169
High School Graduate: $28,645
College Graduate: $51,554
Advanced College Degree: $78,093

* About 85 percent of California's attorneys are white, 3.8 percent are Latino and 1.7 percent are black.

* Latino physicians comprise 4% of all physicians in California.

* 15 percent of California teachers are Latino.

* 3 percent of the nation's scientists and engineers are Hispanic.