---
title: "Hispanic Student Enrollments Reach New Highs"
description: "The number of Hispanics enrolled in college continued to grow in 2011 and reached a record share of all college enrollments."
date: "2012-08-24"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2012/08/24/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-new-highs/"
---

# Hispanic Student Enrollments Reach New Highs

In 2011, the number of 18- to 24-year-old Hispanics enrolled in college exceeded 2 million for the first time and reached a record 16.5% share of all college enrollments.

Hispanics are the largest minority group on the nation’s college campuses, a milestone first achieved last year. But as their growth among all college-age students continues to outpace other groups, Hispanics are now, for the first time, the largest minority group among the nation’s four-year college and university students. Hispanics also made up one-quarter (25.2%) of 18- to 24-year-old students enrolled in two-year colleges.

In the nation’s public schools, Hispanics also reached new milestones. For the first time, one-in-four (24.7%) public elementary school students were Hispanic, following similar milestones reached recently by Hispanics among public kindergarten students (in 2007) and public nursery school students (in 2006). Among all pre-K through 12th grade public school students, a record 23.9% were Hispanic in 2011.

The new milestones reflect a number of continuing upward trends. Between 1972 and 2011, the Latino share of 18- to 24-year-old college students steadily grew—rising from 2.9% to 16.5%. During the same period, among all public school students, the Latino share grew from 6.0% to 23.9%. [Read More](http://www.www.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/hispanic/2012/08/20/hispanic-student-enrollments-reach-new-highs-in-2011/)