Research

In 2009, President Obama set an ambitious goal for the U.S. to become the top ranked country in the world in college degree attainment by 2020.

While all groups will have to increase college degree attainment to meet President Obama's college completion goals, increasing Latino educational attainment is crucial because their educational attainment is lower than other groups (only 19 percent of Latino adults have earned an associate or higher) and the Latino population is rapidly expanding. By 2020, Latinos are projected to represent about 20 percent of the 18-64 year-old U.S. population, compared to 15 percent in 2008; by 2020 Latinos are projected to represent close to 25 percent of the U.S. 18-29 year-old population, up from 18 percent in 2008.

This benchmarking guide provides a clear framework and public baseline for tracking our nation's college degree completion goal disaggregated by race/ethnicity. The framework includes two sets of metrics using existing data: 1) projections of degree completion needs, and 2) analysis of current equity gaps in degree completion. The guide also includes contextual information about Latinos in the educational pipeline and the equity gap between Latinos and whites in achievement by state.