--- title: "IV. Consequences for the Relative Fortunes of Latino Youth" description: "The greater success of white youths in entering higher education at four-year colleges rather than two-year colleges will likely boost their educational attainment relative to Hispanic youths. Two-year colleges can provide an appropriate education to meet the aims of some youths. Many youth do not aspire to a bachelor’s degree and aim to attain vocational […]" date: "2005-11-01" authors: - name: "Richard Fry" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2005/11/01/iii-consequences-for-the-relative-fortunes-of-latino-youth/" --- # IV. Consequences for the Relative Fortunes of Latino Youth The greater success of white youths in entering higher education at four-year colleges rather than two-year colleges will likely boost their educational attainment relative to Hispanic youths. Two-year colleges can provide an appropriate education to meet the aims of some youths. Many youth do not aspire to a bachelor’s degree and aim to attain vocational training or an associate’s degree or certificate. Two-year colleges and non-degree-granting institutions can effectively serve students with basic skill deficiencies and whose high school preparation has not given them the skills they need to succeed in a four-year college (NCES, 2003b). These institutions also often provide educational programs and services that are not offered by four-year colleges. Nonetheless, freshmen starting on two-year college campuses are much less likely to finish a bachelor’s degree than comparable freshmen on four-year campuses. This applies to all youths regardless of race or ethnicity, and this finding appears quite consistently across national post-secondary education data sets. For example, the U.S. Department of Education tracked the educational progress of a nationally representative sample of students that began their post-secondary education in the 1995-96 academic year (NCES, 2002). The most recent follow-up occurred six years after the students had begun post-secondary education. Analysis of this data reveals that almost half of Hispanic undergraduates who sought a bachelor’s degree and began at a four-year college finished a bachelor’s degree within six years (Figure 7). Fewer than one in five of their counterparts who started at a two-year college finished a bachelor’s degree within six years. The importance of post-secondary starting points for bachelor’s degree completion partly reflects the lesser academic preparation of two-year college entrants *vis-à-vis* four-year college entrants. However, two-year entrants and four-year entrants with similar high school background and college entrance examination scores have markedly different completion rates.[7. numoffset="7" For example, additional tabulations from the Beginning Post-secondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS: 96/01) reveal that white two-year students are much less likely to complete than white four-year students with a similar academic background. Compare white students seeking a bachelor’s degree who scored in the middle quartiles of the SAT (a combined score of 710–1020): Of students who began at a two-year college, 34 percent completed a B.A. within six years. Of students who began at a four-year college, 64 percent completed a B.A.] ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2005/11/2005-college-entry-08-600x376.png) One reason for the relatively low bachelor’s completion rates of two-year students is that many two-year students never get to a four-year college or university. Transfer rates from two-year colleges to four-year colleges are fairly low. Tabulations from the 1995-96 Beginning Post-secondary Students Longitudinal survey referred to above indicate that fewer than 45 percent of Hispanic two-year students seeking a bachelor’s degree transferred to a four-year college within six years of entry. But the uphill climb from a two-year college to a bachelor’s degree does not stop with transferring to a four-year institution. Even two-year students who successfully transfer to a four-year college are less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than students who start at a four-year college. About 44 percent of transfer students finish a bachelor’s degree within six years.[8. This rate applies to transferees of any racial/ethnic background, not just Hispanic two-year students who transfer to a four-year college.] This compares with a 63 percent graduation rate among students who begin the quest at a four-year college. As Figure 8 shows, differences in high school background do not fully account for the difference in success. ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2005/11/2005-college-entry-09-600x373.png) The recent enrollment changes discussed above suggest mixed progress for Latino youth. On the one hand, the proportion of Hispanics enrolling in four-year institutions increased modestly in six states (the exception is Texas). This should provide a boost to the educational attainment of Latino youths by increasing the fraction who complete a bachelor’s degree. In an absolute sense, these changes are favorable for Latino educational advancement. However, in California, New York, New Jersey and Arizona, an even larger additional fraction of white youths enrolled in four-year colleges. Thus, the educational attainment of white youths is likely to receive a greater boost. In a relative sense, therefore, Latino youths are falling further behind their white counterparts in these states. --- **Next:** [V. Conclusions](https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2005/11/01/iv-conclusions.md)