By EFE
Sep 27, 2023, 17:03 PM EDT
More than half of Hispanic college students in the United States considered dropping out of their studies at some point last year, according to a survey by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation published this Wednesday.
Latinos are the ethnic group with the highest rate of students considering dropping out of school, and the number has only grown since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Specifically, according to the survey data, the percentage has increased by ten points since 2020, “a worrying trajectory given the historically low levels of Hispanic students in the United States completing their degree studies,” Gallup said in a article about the survey.
Latino students are not the only ones who have experienced an increase in this indicator. 43% of African Americans also considered dropping out of school in 2022, as did 36% of whites (all above the levels recorded in 2020).
The only ones who experienced a reduction in the rate were Asians, of whom only 30% considered dropping out of school.
The main reason cited by all groups of students for considering this decision was emotional stress, followed, although to a lesser extent, by the costs of studying and the difficulty of the courses.
A worrying fact, however, is that Latino students are the most likely to cite the need to care for a family member as a reason for dropping out of school.
Thus, while only 9% of African American or white students allude to this possibility, in the case of Hispanics the rate is 14%.
All of this comes together with the survey’s findings that Hispanic students are more likely than those of any other ethnic group to feel discriminated against in college: one in four say they frequently experience harassment or psychological attacks in the classroom, which which also affects their chances of staying enrolled.
Between 2019 and 2021, Latino student enrollment at US universities fell 7%.
The survey was carried out between October 26 and November 17, 2022 and, according to those responsible, shows “the challenges that still persist and that contributed to the sudden end of advances in university enrollment of Hispanic students as soon as the pandemic arrived.” , a figure that between 2009 and 2019 grew by more than 45%.
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