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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Study: Debt Stands Between Latino Students, Degrees

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Friday, December 11, 2020   

PORTLAND, Ore. - Latino students are entering college in record numbers, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're getting degrees.

Unidos US and the University of North Carolina researched the reasons why some Latino students don't finish college, and finds they're more averse to debt than their non-Latino peers.

Mirna Lorelei Cibrian is the Latino Partnership Program officer for the Oregon Community Foundation. She said many Latinos are first-generation students and don't know how they'll be able to afford school.

"For me, when I thought about higher education and going to school," said Cibrian, "I looked at the overall amount that it was going to cost, right? Like what was the total bill? And I said to myself, I remember, 'Oh, I can't do that."

Cibrian said there's a need for more mentors on higher education in Latino communities.

Data from Excelencia in Education finds a large gap in degree attainment in Oregon. Twenty-two percent of Latino Oregonians age 25 or older had an associate degree or higher, compared with 45% of white Oregonians.

The report also notes Latino students often feel an obligation to help support their families. Cibrian said that means some students have more than one focus while at school.

"Our community is very much family-oriented and if our community needs help, many times we'll work full-time jobs and go to school," said Cibrian.

Cibrian said the state and federal governments could introduce innovative models to better support Latino students and their families.

"Wraparound services for families is really, really, really critical," said Cibrian. "Especially for our community, if the student is struggling, the family is struggling. If the family is struggling, the student will step up to support the family."

The Center for American Progress says in Hispanic-serving higher education, schools also need more monetary support from the federal government. It estimates Congress should invest $1 billion in these institutions to improve racial equity in higher education.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




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