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Richard Fry

Senior Researcher

Expertise:Demographics and Social Trends

Richard Fry is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center. He is an expert on school and college enrollment in the United States, as well as the returns to education in the labor market and marriage market, and its connection to household economic well-being such as net worth. Fry’s analyses are largely empirical, as he has extensive expertise analyzing U.S. Census Bureau and other federal data collections. Before joining Pew Research Center in 2002, he was a senior economist at the Educational Testing Service. Fry received his doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan. Fry regularly documents U.S. educational and enrollment milestones, the economic well-being of the nation’s young adults, the role of student debt in financing college education, and the changing relationship between education and marriage and cohabitation.

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reportJun 16, 2010

Minorities and the Recession-Era College Enrollment Boom

The recession-era boom in the size of freshman classes at four-year colleges, community colleges and trade schools has been driven largely by a sharp increase in minority student enrollment.
reportJan 19, 2010

Women, Men and the New Economics of Marriage

In the past, when relatively few wives worked, marriage enhanced the economic status of women more than that of men. Recently, however, the economic gains associated with marriage have been greater for men.
reportMay 28, 2009

Latino Children: A Majority Are U.S.-Born Offspring of Immigrants

Hispanics now make up 22% of all children under the age of 18 in the United States–up from 9% in 1980–and as their numbers have grown, their demographic profile has changed.
reportJun 6, 2007

How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners?

As Congress considers the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law an analysis of recent data from standardized testing around the country shows that the fast growing number of students designated as English language learners are among those farthest behind.
reportOct 17, 2006

2005, Foreign-Born Population in the United States Statistical Population

This statistical profile of the foreign born population is based on Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of the Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey public use microdata file, which was released August 29, 2006.
reportSep 16, 2006

2005, Hispanics in the United States Statistical Portrait

This statistical profile of the Latino population is based on Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of the Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey public use microdata file, which was released August 29, 2006.
reportJun 27, 2005

Hispanics and the 2004 Election: Population, Electorate and Voters

Hispanics accounted for half of the population growth in the United States between the elections of 2000 and 2004 but only one-tenth of the increase in the total votes cast.
reportJun 23, 2004

Latino Youth Finishing College

This new study from the Pew Hispanic Center that finds that the white/Latino gap in finishing college is larger than the high school completion gap. The study reveals that Latino undergraduates are at a disadvantage in competing for college degrees because of two important factors: many Hispanic undergraduates disproportionately enroll on campuses that have low bachelor's degree completion rates, and they have different experiences than white students even when they enroll on the same campuses.
reportJun 12, 2003

Hispanic Youth Dropping Out of U.S. Schools

High school dropout rates are a key performance measure for the American education system. This report shows that the standard method for calculating the dropout rate leads to a distorted picture of the status of Hispanic students in U.S. schools.
reportSep 5, 2002

Latinos In Higher Education

This report shows that by some measures a greater share of Latinos are attending college classes than non-Hispanic whites, and yet they lag every other population group in attaining college degrees, especially bachelor’s degrees. A detailed examination of data for enrollment shows a high propensity among Latino high school graduates to pursue post-secondary studies. However, most are pursuing paths associated with lower chances of attaining a bachelor’s degree. Many are enrolled in community colleges, many also only attend school part-time and others delay or prolong their college education into their mid-20s and beyond. These findings clearly show that large numbers of Latinos finish their secondary schooling and try to extend their education but fail to earn a degree.