Seattle U welcomes newly admitted Latino students

Seattle University held a special reception last night welcoming Latino undergrads to the University. Students who had been accepted, some with their parents, attended to hear about current student experiences and how SU supports each student as they enter the University and find their path.

Victor Zamora of the school's admissions office put the event together and invited Latino faculty and other staff to share their roles, and to join in recognizing these students.

Victor read off some statistics that remind us that in the U.S., Hispanics lag behind non-Hispanic whites and every minority in terms of high school graduate and college entrance, and he applauded not only the students in attendance but their parents for encouraging them to achieve more than perhaps others in their family had before them.

Our own research shows that a whopping 39% of Puget Sound region Latinos have not finished high school, 37% have their high school diploma, and 16% have at least some college.

How does this compare to the national statistics? Considering that 32.5% of U.S. Hispanics (twice as many) have at least some college, we're lagging way behind. And this issue will be compounded when Latinos represent 30% of our entire country by 2025.

Victor mentioned that of all universities in the U.S., only 4% of the professors are Latino. This explains a lot, because students don't have the same encouragement or mentorship they might have if they enter a school with a professor that looks like them or speaks their language.

To download our free study on Hispanic Consumers in the Puget Sound Region (produced in conjunction with Seattle University), please visit our site.