Pew Research News on Hispanic Enrollment ‘Uplifiting,’ TAMIU President Says

News this week that Hispanic student enrollment reached a new high in 2011 is  “uplifting” said Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) president Dr. Ray Keck.

“As the Texas Higher Education Journal noted, we’re the State’s number one producer of degrees for Latinos, so we find this research news truly uplifting and are proud to be a part of this benchmark.  It’s a reminder of the importance of higher education and the reason TAMIU is here,” Dr. Keck said.

On Tuesday, the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, said analysis of the newly available US Census Bureau data revealed that Hispanic student enrollment reached a number of milestones.

Researchers Richard Fry and Mark Hugo Lopez noted that for the first time, the number of 18-24 year-old Hispanics enrolled in college exceeded 2 million and reached a record 16.5% of all college enrollments.

The study also found that:

• Hispanics became the largest minority group on the nation’s college campuses in 2011, particularly among the nation’s four-year college and university students.
• In public elementary schools, 24.7% of students were Hispanic.

The authors indicated that in all instances of growth, rapid population growth by Latinos was the leading factor in increased Latino student enrollment. 

They noted that Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group and make up more than 50 million people or 16.5% of the U.S. population.

Keck said he encourages all students to consider their options in higher education in Laredo.

“Late Fall registration continues through Aug. 29 and we’re looking forward to welcoming more students who are helping to make national record enrollments possible,” Dr. Keck said.

For complete information Fall at TAMIU, visit tamiu.edu.  Additional registration information is available on uonline.tamiu.edu, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

A free TAMIU app for smartphone and tablet is available for download at tamiu.edu.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu