Facts About College Affordability
for Hispanic Students

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Race, Income, and College Type

• More Hispanic undergraduates attend public 2-year colleges and private for-profit colleges than attend 4-year public and not-for-profit colleges, compared to White students.
   
• Hispanic undergraduates are more likely to be economically independent of their families than White students while attending college (53% vs. 47%), and they are more likely to be in the lowest 25% with regard to income. 46% of Hispanic students are in the bottom 25% of income distribution, as compared to 26% of White undergraduates.

Availability of Federal Aid

• In 2004, a higher proportion of Hispanic Students, as compared to White students, qualified as needing federal aid (66% to 51% in 2-year public colleges and 78% to 65% in 4-year Ph.D.-granting institutions.)



• Hispanic students are receiving even less federal aid compared to their documented financial need than White students.



• At 2-year colleges, the gap between need and federal aid is $1,700 for White students and $2,000 for Hispanic students, while the gap at 4-year colleges for White students is about $1,700 and $3,000 for Hispanic students

Tuition and Fees

• Regardless of ethnicity, after accounting for inflation, tuition and fees at both 2-year and 4-year public colleges have more than doubled over the last 20 years.



• Tuition and fees at 4-year colleges are up by 129% and at 2-year colleges by 134%. Over the same period, room and board has increased by 30% in real terms at 4-year colleges.

Grants and Aid

• Hispanic undergraduates are about as likely as White undergraduates to receive some form of aid (63% to 62%).



• Hispanic students are more likely to receive grant aid than White students (53% to 48%).



• The total average amount of aid for undergraduates is less for Hispanic students than for White students ($6,600 vs. $7,500). This difference applies to both 2-year and 4-year colleges.

Loans

• At both 2-year and 4-year colleges, a lower percentage of Hispanic students than White students take out loans to meet their college expenses.



• At 2-year institutions, just 7% of Hispanic students and 13% of White students take out loans; at 4-year colleges the comparison is 41% to 44%.



• At 4-year colleges Hispanic students receive smaller loans than White students ($5,100 as compared to $5,600 for Whites). At 2-year institutions Hispanic students average $3,200 in loans as compared to $3,700 for White students.



• Average federal aid to Hispanic students receiving such aid is also less than for White students. At 2-year colleges, Hispanic students average $3,000 in federal aid as opposed to $3,400 for White students. At 4-year colleges, the figures are $5,800 for Hispanic students and $6,600 for White students.

College Affordability Fact Sheet for Black Students
copyright NEA Research, July 2008

Sources
Trends in College Pricing - 2007 College Board
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/trends/trends_pricing_07.pdf

2006 NACAC Secondary School Counseling Trends Survey
http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/Balancing_Acts.pdf

Project on Student Debt: Student Debt and the Class of 2006
http://projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-data.php

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003-2004, 1999-2000, 1995-1996, and 1992-1993 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/

Student Financing of Undergraduate Education 2003-04, NCES 2006
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006186.pdf