A growing Latino population, pursuing college: Is there a path to success?

The Latino population today has been growing steadily for the past 20 years, more than any other ethnicity in America (Woolley, 2009). Students that do decide to go to college make the choice through a series of skills built through their primary education as well as parental support which also builds up on their self-confidence, awareness of resources for college and more importantly understanding of the future rigor of college coursework (Wilmer, 2008). Lozano, Watt, and Huerta (2009) found that during high school year's strong academic preparedness is important for a student to be able to successfully transition into college. However, when students are involved in an intervention program in high school that aims to increase the students' knowledge, provides support and resources while introducing the idea that achieving a college degree is indeed possible, it is not only beneficial to the student but also to society. The current growth of the Latino population suggests that the future of America will soon be largely represented by this fast growing ethnicity. Educating and preparing Latino adolescents now for future success and upward mobility is a societal necessity. Cammarata (2007) further explained, for students to even be college ready they need to also successfully and graduate high school and to meet academic requirements for college. While choosing to attend college is important and has maintained a reputation of being a rigorous process, college preparation is equally as important especially during high school (Cammarota, 2007).