Currently, Latinos are the largest and the fastest growing minority population in the United States. In comparison to Caucasians and African-Americans, however, the percentage of Latinos attending colleges and universities is low. For undergraduates (age 18 to 24), for example, 37 percent of Caucasians, 28 percent of African-Americans and 20 percent of Latinos are currently enrolled in higher education institutions.

U.S. Census estimates project that in the next 50 years, one quarter of all the nation’s school children will be Latino. This means that America’s competitive future—which is integrally tied to its educational future—will increasingly depend upon the Latino community. Improving higher education prospects for Latinos is thus a national priority.

In 2003, The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, commissioned The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California to conduct an in-depth study of Latinos and financial aid. The study identified a number of key challenges for Latino families:

• Awareness of financial aid options is critically lacking in the Latino community, and that lack of awareness has a direct impact on college attendance.
• Three out of four young adults who are not currently in college would have been more likely to attend college if they had had better information about financial aid.
• More than half of Latino parents and 43 percent of Latino young adults reported that they were not aware of even a single source of college financial aid.
• More than two thirds of Latino parents did not receive any financial aid while their child was in K-12 and more than half (56 percent) of the young adults who were not attending college indicated that they had not received any financial aid information in K-12.
• More than 30 percent of Latino young adults and 22 percent of Latino parents would like to receive information on financial aid two years earlier than they are currently receiving it.
• Most Latino parents and young adults want to receive financial aid information from face-to-face interactions (for example, a workshop or counseling session).
• Nearly 90 percent of survey respondents indicated that a college education is “very important” for success in today’s world.

In response to the need identified by this study, The Sallie Mae Fund launched On the Road: The Paying for College Tour, a 22-city, coast-to-coast bus tour, designed to help educate thousands of Latino families about planning and paying for college. The tour kicked off on September 8, 2004 with a launch event at Belmont Senior High School in Los Angeles, featuring educators and celebrities.

At each stop of On the Road: The Paying for College Tour, The Fund will conduct workshops and participate in community outreach activities. Free resources in English and Spanish on planning and paying for college also will be distributed. A public service radio campaign featuring the tour’s celebrity spokesperson, Telemundo Network personality, Maria Celeste Arrarás, will help to publicize the workshops and the availability of financial aid.

The Fund also is partnering with local higher education associations, school districts, universities and Latino community-based organizations to encourage Latino students and families to attend the Paying for College workshops. Components of those workshops include:

• A 45-minute presentation in Spanish (with simultaneous English interpretation by a professional interpreter) on college admissions and financial aid.
• Advice on the admissions and financial aid process from financial aid administrators and admissions officers from local colleges. Experts will address state aid available to residents, and answer questions from students and parents.
• Information about services and programs from local partnering organizations.
• A $1,000 college scholarship awarded from The Sallie Mae Fund via a random drawing to a local high school student.

“Latinos represent the fastest-growing population in America, yet their rate of enrollment in higher education lags far behind that of other population groups," says Susan Corsini, chair of The Sallie Mae Fund. "The results of Caught in the Financial Aid Information Divide demonstrate that awareness of financial aid is a key factor in the path toward college for Latinos. With the bus tour, The Sallie Mae Fund hopes to educate Latino families about the availability of financial aid and to make them aware that a college education is indeed a viable and valuable option for them.”

“Empowering families by spreading this message is one of the most important tools in opening the doors to higher education,” added Corsini. “On the Road: The Paying for College Tour will unite financial aid professionals, local and national political stakeholders and community-based groups in a journey to change the status quo for Latinos in higher education.”

On the Road: The Paying for College Tour will culminate with a final tour stop in Miami, Fla., on Nov. 20.

For more information about the 2004 Paying for College bus tour or The Sallie Mae Fund, including tour stops and locations, please visit www.salliemaefund.org.

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