Transition to College and Career among Indiana Latinx Youth

Abstract

In Indianapolis, Latinos are the second-largest minority population in public schools after African American students. The Indiana Department of Education reports 134,319 Latino students enrolled in Indiana schools in 2020. The proportion of Latinx students grew from 6.6% in 2008 to 12.8% in 2020 (Indiana Department of Education [IDOE], 2020). Despite this growth, in 2018, the college-going trend within one year of high school graduation among Latinos was 51 percent, the lowest of all ethnic/racial groups (Indiana Commission for Higher Education [ICHE], 2020). In 2018, the average freshman GPA among Latinos (2.5) was lower than the GPA among White (2.7) and Asian (3.0) students (ICHE, 2020). However, there is a significant gap in the literature about Latinx students’ struggles to access post-secondary options. This exploratory research intends to address this gap. The study uses students, parents, and high school teachers' voices to identify barriers, challenges, and opportunities that Latinx high school students in Indianapolis Public Schools find in their transition to meaningful post-secondary options.