{"id":8442,"date":"2022-10-07T10:58:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T15:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/hispanic-enrollment-reaches-new-high-at-four-year-colleges-in-the-u-s-but-affordability-remains-an-obstacle\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:55:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:55:33","slug":"hispanic-enrollment-reaches-new-high-at-four-year-colleges-in-the-u-s-but-affordability-remains-an-obstacle","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/10\/07\/hispanic-enrollment-reaches-new-high-at-four-year-colleges-in-the-u-s-but-affordability-remains-an-obstacle\/","title":{"rendered":"Hispanic enrollment reaches new high at four-year colleges in the U.S., but affordability remains an obstacle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hispanic enrollment at postsecondary institutions in the United States has seen an exponential increase over the last few decades, rising from 1.5 million in 2000 to a new high of 3.8 million in 2019 \u2013 partly reflecting the group\u2019s rapid growth<\/a> as a share of the overall U.S. population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a decline in postsecondary enrollment among Hispanics and most other racial and ethnic groups. In fall 2020, there were 640,000 fewer students \u2013 including nearly 100,000 fewer Hispanics \u2013 enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities than in the previous year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics<\/a> (NCES).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decline for Hispanics, and other racial and ethnic groups, in 2020 was driven by a drop in enrollment at two-year institutions. Hispanic enrollment at two-year colleges declined by about 230,000, or 15%, from 2019 to 2020. It appears that this trend continued into fall 2021, as there was a decline in the number of higher education institutions where Hispanics make up at least 25% of students \u2013 known as Hispanic-Serving Institutions<\/a> \u2013 from 569 in fall 2020 to 559 in fall 2021<\/a>. (NCES has not yet released postsecondary enrollment data for fall 2021.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hispanic enrollment at four-year institutions, by contrast, continued to rise even during the first year of the pandemic, increasing by about 140,000 students, or 6%, from 2019 to 2020. Hispanic enrollment at such institutions has increased every year for decades. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of Latinos enrolled at four-year institutions jumped from 620,000 to 2.4 million, a 287% increase. By comparison, overall student enrollment at four-year institutions in the U.S. grew by 50% during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n

How we did this<\/div>