We have admired for years the work of the California Community Colleges Research and Planning Group (RP Group). Willard Hom of Chancellor's Office, often posts very nice 1-2 page abstracts on research and articles of use to community college planners, but we're not certain how often those get shared outside of California.

So, continuing a trend of posting more in this SCUP Links blog about Hispanic students, here are a couple of Hom's latest abstracts.

Location Matters (PDF): Geography and Hispanic Community College Enrollment: This abstract summarizes many point of interest, among which are:

Geographic considerations should be of special interest to researchers studying Hispanics’ higher education aspirations. More research is needed to explain the effects of geography on their postsecondary attendance. More than either comparison group (Black, White), Hispanic students show a tendency/desire to stay at home while pursuing postsecondary goals. This is especially true for Hispanic students who do not live in strong Hispanic states. [p. 830] Despite their awareness of the advantages of entering through a four-year institution if they aspire to a Bachelor’s degree, these Hispanic students tend to reside in greater proximity to two-year colleges and place importance on living at home during college, which increases the likelihood of two-year attendance. The greater likelihood of attending a two-year institution due to geographic factors contributes to a lower likelihood of entering a four-year institution and achieving a four-year degree.

Hispanic Students (PDF): Acculturation, Expectations, Support, and Perceived Barriers:

The findings by FBRTP may help college counselors, faculty, and administrators to expand their awareness of students whose expectations, kinship affiliation, acculturation status, and perceptions of barriers increase their vulnerability to negative academic situations. The college’s institutional culture and practices should encourage success and create a sense of belonging for all students, but this appears to be especially important for Hispanic students. Differences within the Hispanic population (by gender and generational status) can make a difference in the efficacy of targeted resources and counseling for retention and success.

We may be close to maxing out on the first strategy. Our high college drop-out rate — 40% of kids who enroll in college don't get a degree within six years — may be a sign that we're trying to push too many people who aren't suited for college to enroll. It has been estimated that, in 2007, most people in their 20s who had college degrees were not in jobs that required them: another sign that we are pushing kids into college who will not get much out of it but debt.
The benefits of putting more people in college are also oversold. Part of the college wage premium is an illusion. People who go to college are, on average, smarter than people who don't. In an economy that increasingly rewards intelligence, you'd expect college grads to pull ahead of the pack even if their diplomas signified nothing but their smarts. College must make many students more productive workers. But at least some of the apparent value of a college degree, and maybe a lot of it, reflects the fact that employers can use it as a rough measure of job applicants' intelligence and willingness to work hard . . . It is absurd that people have to get college degrees to be considered for good jobs in hotel management or accounting — or journalism. It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs. The tight connection between college degrees and economic success may be a nearly unquestioned part of our social order. Future generations may look back and shudder at the cruelty of it.