Texas Census Numbers Lead Hispanic Scholarship Fund to Recommit to State’s Growing Hispanic Youth Population
HSF is Largest Provider of College Scholarships to Hispanic Americans in Texas
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 17, 2011— Informed by the Census numbers released today, Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is redoubling its efforts to assist Hispanic American students in Texas achieve a college degree in order to help the state maintain its economic strength.
HSF, Texas’ largest funder of scholarships for Hispanics, will do so by both building on its existing work and implementing a new initiative in the state. The existing effort includes 22,000 scholarships awarded to Texas college students in the past 35 years that total $66 million (almost one-fourth of all scholarships awarded in HSF’s history). In 2010 alone HSF awarded 883 scholarships in Texas with a total value of $6.2 million.
“We’re proud of our record in Texas including the fact thousands of students have elected to apply their HSF scholarship dollars to state universities. The Census vividly helps us realize that the college-going population of Hispanics has greatly increased and students are looking to us for guidance and support—we can’t let them down. With this in mind, we’re launching Generation 1st Degree for Texas,” says Frank Alvarez, president/CEO, HSF.
Generation 1st Degree aims to help at least one person in every Hispanic household earn a college degree so that degree-holder can then help others in the family achieve the goal as well. The initiative seeks to move the U.S. Latino degree attainment rate from 19 percent to 60 percent by 2025 because HSF recognizes the nation’s need for more college graduates. Right now Hispanics lag other groups in college attainment despite their growing numbers, a fact the campaign aims to address. Generation 1st Degree has already held meetings with corporate leaders in Houston to discuss how to carry out the initiative.
"As the Census figures illustrate, Hispanics are playing an increasingly important role in Texas’ growth. And, raising educational attainment levels in this population will be critical to the state’s future. The availability of college educated, bi-lingual workers will represent a tremendous asset for the state in today’s global marketplace,” says Tom Stellman, president/CEO, TIP Strategies, an Austin-based economic and workforce development consulting firm.
HSF estimates that an increase in Latinos with college degrees to 60 percent will lead to a significant increase in Latino lifetime earnings—from the current $24 trillion to $47 trillion (in today’s dollars) by 2025.
Currently in Texas there are more than 10,000 previous HSF scholarship recipients who claim the state as their home.
###
Editor’s Note: Please see accompanying Fact Sheet for today’s Census numbers, the Hispanic American statistics, and how Texas’ results compare to other states.
About the Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Founded in 1975, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund believes that the country prospers when all Americans have access to the opportunities a college education can afford. As the nation’s leading Hispanic higher education fund, HSF works to address the financial and cultural barriers that keep many Latinos from earning a college degree. HSF has awarded over $300 million in scholarships over the past 35 years and has supported a broad range of outreach and education programs to help students and their families navigate collegiate life, from gaining admission and securing financial aid to finding employment after graduation. HSF envisions a future where every Latino household will have at least one college graduate, creating an enduring impact on the college outlook of Latino families nationwide, and strengthening the American economy for generations to come. For more information about the Hispanic Scholarship Fund please visit: www.HSF.net.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Adam Shapiro
ashapiro@lipmanhearne.com
202-457-8100