Latino Students Receive Less Financial Aid for Higher Ed

The evidence is mounting that we're headed toward an economic crisis if we don't alter this trend (see other posts from today). -Angela

Latino Students Receive Less Financial Aid for Higher Ed
by Marisa Trevino, http://latinalista.blogspot.com/
September 1, 2006

An interesting survey in a recent study conducted by USA Today found that financial aid at public flagship universities aren’t keeping pace with tuition increases.

Though tuition increased by about 34 percent, the increase in aid only amounted to 17 percent.

According to Jamie Merisotis, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a Washington D.C. think tank, the findings are especially troubling because it indicates that the ability to pay is eroding – especially among the low-income students.

That’s an interesting point since Latino students have always had to struggle with the high cost of education – even with financial aid.

Among all the ethnicities, Latinos receive the lowest average amount of financial aid awarded—by type and source of aid.

In a breakdown found at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund , Latinos were found to receive:
the least financial aid ($5,999) of any ethnic group.
Sector: Latinos received the least federal aid ($4,644) and the least non-federal aid ($3,328) of any ethnic group.
Grants: Latinos received the smallest grant awards ($3,486) for their education of any ethnic group. Latinos received the smallest federal grants ($2,113) of any ethnic group, except whites, and received by far the smallest non-federal grants ($3,017) of any ethnic group.
Loans: Latinos received larger loans ($4,168) than African Americans ($4,070) or Asian/Pacific Islanders ($4,073).
Work-Study: Latinos received the lowest work-study awards ($1,152) of any ethnic group.
“Other aid”: Latinos received higher awards ($4,527) than African Americans ($4,147), but less than whites ($5,070) or Asian/Pacific Islanders ($5,364). This disparity is consistent in “other” federal aid ($6,047) and non-federal aid ($3,475).
So, today’s news that there is even less money to help students realize their suenos for the future is doubly worse for Latino students.

And to think some would have us believe that Latino students get preferential treatment when it comes to higher education.