Scholarships for Hispanics
Over time the Hispanic minority in the U.S.A. has grown to such a scale that it even surpassed the African American population so it can hardly be called a minority anymore. Even so, the number of Latinos involved in forms of higher education remains alarmingly low. There are several key factors that contribute to the lack of college education within the Hispanic minority.
Family issues are one of the reasons why a high percentage of Latino youth, especially girls, don’t attend higher education. Usually, Hispanic parents are reluctant to let their daughters leave home and move to another place to attend college. They would rather prefer that they get a job and stay with the family.
When it comes to young Latino men, most of the time higher education is not even a real option anyway because they don’t even graduate from high school. Instead, they drop out to get a job early and help their families financially. Because the Hispanic families usually face many pecuniary problems which in turn makes their life a continuous struggle, parents prefer that their offspring stay home for emotional support also.
Statistics also show that Scholarship for Hispanics is at a very low number and, even if the Latino students receive free tuition funds most of them just opt for a two year degree or a technical one.
Private, Federal and State Grant programs
Over the course of the last 20 years more and more members of the Hispanic minority started to attend college education, actually. The number has risen by around 75%. This was mainly made possible by overcoming the greatest drawback that this minority had to face, this being the acute lack of funds.
The reality is that many Hispanic possible students come from families with a very poor background that have been living a decent day by day life as their main goal. The Sallie Mae institution, with the help of the Hispanic College Fund created the “First in my family” scholarship in order to provide Hispanic Grants for College to the potential students stuck in this kind of dead end situation.
Seeing how the racial adversity is slowly dissipating, the only real obstacle that Latino students have to overcome is the financial one. It is good to see that nowadays many more programs are being set up to help in overcoming this problem.
As it is the case with all students regardless of race, gender or religion, the first way any Hispanic should ask for free tuition money is the Pell Grant. Created to tailor the needs of undergraduates coming from low-income families, this financial incentive is perfect for the Latino minority. Another good option for young Latino women is opting for one of the many programs that award health care degrees like the Hispanic Nurses Association, the March of Dimes Nursing Scholarship program or the Nursing Education program.
The aforementioned career path is recommended especially in the state of Texas where Latino undergraduates are given grants to follow either a professional nursing program or a four – year lasting one.
Large corporations also encourage and support the higher education of minority students as it is common sense that workforce diversity and a higher number of educated people add a lot to the effectiveness of any country.
During 2002 the government spent over $85 million dollars for a wide range of Hispanic grants for college. The first sum paid for tuition was 15$ million dollars, and another $70 million dollars were disbursed shortly after. Hispanic institutions for higher education accept students who is at least one fourth Latino. These colleges are located in New York, California, Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico.
The National Hispanic University located in California awards grants in Silicon Valley, which goes to prove the existence of Hispanic grants for college aimed at undergraduates interested in specific career paths. To be able to apply, students need to be involved in an engineering or science program and have a GPA minimum of 2.5.
Also, students who live in Florida and are searching for Scholarships for Hispanics can apply for the Jose Marti Scholarship. This grant is need and GPA based and the amount awarded is decided by private donators in conjunction with the funds given by the Florida Legislature. To be eligible for this scholarship, students need to be living in Florida, have a minimum grade point average between 3.0 and 4 and be of Spanish origin. The application is submitted online.
Because the Hispanic youth has to face so many obstacles in pursuing a successful career, the U.S. Department of Education is actively involved in helping Latino students overcome the social and economic barriers they are faced with when trying to attain a college degree.
There are many different ways for Latinos to get off to a good start in higher education and one of them is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.
The purpose of this foundation’s grant program is to financially assist the Hispanic minority with higher education. The sponsorships awarded by the institute are aimed at students interested in public service activities but also keen on continuing this kind of work in the future.
This program has no academic requirements but students who prove very good leadership skills are preferred. The amount provided by CHCI differ on the type of education students attend. For Hispanics in the community college, the sum awarded are $1000, students attending a four – year academic institution gets $2500, and this sum is doubled for those in graduate level institutions. This money is to be spent only on tuition, books, room and board and any other college expenses.
To make sure that the students progress and complete their education each grant is divided by the number of years it takes to graduate. For example, a $2500 grant will be paid in four equal parts of $625 per annum. The money is sent directly to the recipients as a check.
Other foundations like the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute are making efforts in convincing the students that, for one reason or another dropped out of college to go back and finish their education. Other grants provided by the institute are aimed at students who already have a two year degree with the intention of convincing them to finish a four year program.
