Educational Levels of the Parents
(Click here for section tables/graphs)
Parents’ Educational levels by ethnicity
Hispanic undergraduate respondents indicated that 26.9% had one or more parent with at least some college experience compared to 74.2% for African-Americans, 75.0% for Whites, and 76.7% for Asians. In fact, 40.6% of the undergraduate Hispanic respondents do not even have one parent with any high school experience compared to less than 7% for any other ethnic group.
Hispanic post-baccalaureate respondents indicated that 31.8% had one or more parent with at least some college experience compared to 63.5% for African Americans, 79.7 % for Whites, and 79.2% for Asians. Of these Hispanic post-baccalaureates, half do not even have one parent with any high school experience compared to less than 8% for any other ethnic group.
The finding that parents of Hispanic students are much less educated than is the case for other students is very consistent with several surveys administered by IRAP during the past 20 years. It is interesting to note that despite the lack of college level experiences from the parents of our Hispanic students, as a group they are at par with other ethnic groups at succeeding in college. In fact, they have had some of the highest six year graduation rates among the ethnic groups. To try to make sense of this, one could speculate that for some Hispanics the lack of education in their family background may serve as a motivating force. For other Hispanics going to college may be a break away from their parent’s expectations and following in their footsteps. A known factor is the support members of Hispanic clubs receive from other members as well as from faculty mentors. To review statistics on six year graduation rates by ethnicity visit the following IRAP Factbook tables: Comparison of First-Time Freshmen Cohorts, Six Year Graduation & Return Rates