This post first appeared on the College Bound blog.
Latino students have reached a new milestone in the United States: A higher percentage who graduate from high school are enrolling in college than white students.
In the class of 2012, a record 69 percent of Hispanic high school graduates went on to pursue higher education, compared with 67 percent of white graduates, according to a report released today by the Pew Research Center in Washington. In 2000, just 49 percent of Hispanic high school graduates enrolled in college the following fall.
While Latinos made up just 11 percent of high school graduates in the Class of 2000 (or 300,000 students), they comprised 22 percent of the most recent class (or 697,000 students) in 2012.
Overall, 66 percent of high school graduates in the class of 2012 enrolled in college, including about 63 percent of black students and 84 percent of Asians.
You can read Caralee’s full account over at the College Bound blog.