Lack of financial resources to pay for postsecondary education--perceived and actual--has been cited as a barrier to student access and persistence, particularly for Latino students. This study investigates the following question: "To what extent does financial aid affect the educational attainment of Latinos enrolled in Associate's…

Budget cuts have reduced courses and student services within California community colleges. This coincides with the growth of low-income Latino male (Latinos) and Latina female (Latinas) student enrollment. Budget cuts have been implemented throughout the system, including in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS), which…

Redistricting, the redrawing of electoral district boundaries to reflect the latest population counts, occurs for most electoral districts after each decennial census. While normally a topic of concern mainly to politicians and politicos, redistricting can alter the opportunities for representation and policy alternatives. For a number of reasons,…

A Latino scorecard is presented for higher education institutions using an index of eight measures for "resources", "effectiveness", "diversity", "equity", "affordability", and "access". It is applied to public 4-year institutions in Texas and shows that institutions located in South Texas and those with higher resources do better relative to…

This article draws from data collected as part of a 3-year ethnographic study that followed two groups of Latino/a students through their final years of high school, the college application process, and for some, the inception of their postsecondary studies. Using Latino/a critical theory as an analytical framework, this article provides insights…

This study utilizes social capital theory to examine the collective agency available to national higher education associations and better understand the power of the collectivity to influence policy. The analysis draws on a specific issue, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, and investigates letters and statements…

This article examines the factors that affect Latinos' enrollment in community colleges that are Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Compared with community colleges that are not HSIs, HSI community colleges are serving students at greater risk for not completing college. Latinos who are enrolled in community college HSIs, compared with their…

This study examined the differences in perceptions of barriers in education among Latinos in the United States based on the level of linguistic acculturation, generational status, academic achievement, and socioeconomic status of the participants. This study used data from the Pew Hispanic Research Center. Results indicated that later-generation…

Parents who have not had opportunities to attend college themselves have neither experience with the process of college preparation and college going nor sufficient access to needed information. This article describes a collaborative venture between a university department of education and a cluster of local schools designed to help parents of…

Collaborative efforts between school districts and higher education institutions to address access, retention, and achievement issues for underrepresented students have grown in recent years. Yet many of these university or school district-led efforts possess limited understanding of the community context for systemic change, and engage community…

To consider how interdisciplinary P-20 partnerships increase college going among Chicano/Latino youth, the authors highlight evidence from the Educational Partnership Center (EPC), University of California, Santa Cruz, a P-20 partnership building academic achievement and college and career pathways. Three elements advance EPC effectiveness:…

P-20 collaboration between the P-12 and higher education sectors has been increasing in recent years as a strategy to promote college access, particularly among underrepresented students. This article provides an overview of the current state of P-20 scholarship and practice in the field, offers an approach to conceptualizing the study and…

Using an Opportunity to Learn (OTL) framework, this study examines the college preparatory experiences of Latina high and non-high achievers at an urban Latina/o majority high school. Findings indicate that students relied almost exclusively on school resources to navigate their college preparation process. However, the school provided…

This article focuses on understanding successful Latina/o college student retention at 4-year institutions. Deficit models fail to consider how Latina/o students use different forms of capital (i.e., social, cultural, economic, and human) in earning a degree. Using data from the UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program, factors associated…

This study evaluates the recent political context in which foreign-born noncitizen immigrants in the United States exist, their traditional and new settlement locations of residence, and where they are most likely to use public policies that encourage college enrollment. Legislative trends indicate that state activity continues to evolve around…