September 5, 2016

Dear Next President,

Obtaining an education in the United States can get excessively expensive right after graduating high school. Yes, there can be scholarships and programs offered in high school to help students, but what if you’re part of a household that cannot access certain resources? What if you are the first generation in your family to have the opportunity to go to college but you don’t know how to get there. You know what's more difficult? Being an undocumented Hispanic immigrant who comes to the United States with hopes of living the American Dream and not being able to pursue their dream because they face the struggle of not knowing how to pay a whole tuition or how to even construct that college path.

Receiving a college degree and getting a higher education can give the opportunity to people to work for a better lifestyle. Having more college graduates also generates our economy more component. The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education magazine states that receiving a higher education can make an impact in someone’s life in a positive way by helping them improve their critical and analytical thinking skills, as well as upgrading their future job fulfillment. Taking in consideration that Hispanics only earn 4% of all master’s degrees, as well as 3% doctoral degrees, and 5% of professional degrees. Overall Hispanic students are more likely to achieve a master’s degrees according to the book written by Amaury Nora, Gloria Crisp “Hispanics and Higher Education: An Overview of Research, Theory, and Practice”. According to Census Hispanics compose of 17% of the nation’s population, that’s equivalent to 55 million Hispanics. Meaning Hispanics compose almost ⅕ of the nation and helping them find a college path will help the country grow with more successful and prepared individuals.

Why don’t more Hispanics enroll in college? According to a 1994 issue of Hispanics, 9.1% of 25 years old and older Hispanics have graduated from college. Compared to 24% for Whites and 13% for Blacks. The Hispanic group is really the group with the lowest percentage of enrollment in college. A big reason why young Hispanics don’t go to college is because many of students are not encouraged by their families to attend college, also they are told that to graduate from high school is enough. "The school is just a step to go to college," Mr. Moreno said, an ESOL counselor, "It's very important they know what they want to do," he also said, "Every student must have a goal."

What can we do to change this? How can you, the next president contribute to make a change in these percentages? How can we encourage more Hispanics to attend college? Having a College and Career Readiness class as a high school requirement will benefit all students Nationwide that desire to create their college path. This means students have to take a CCR class in order to fulfill graduation requirements credits in order to graduate. By replacing some elective credits with a year of CCR would not affect the number of credits a high school student must complete to graduate. This class would help students in finding internship opportunities as well as how to apply for scholarships. New Technology High School, which is the school I attend, has a CCR class for all 11th graders to take in order to get us ready for college. Taking this idea from my school and sharing it with you, our next president, would benefit not just Hispanics but anyone else that does not know to get to college. For Hispanics it’ll be the help they need to reach for that American Dream.

This issue might be controversial since it’ll be a big transition in high school requirements. Even if school districts substitute elective credits with CCR credits, some students might perceive the class being futile. Considering that there is a very economically diverse student body in many states in the United States many families have the advantage of having college graduates as part of their household and can easily guide the new generation. Having this class in every high school can make a big impact in the Hispanic education and their future. In conclusion, by conveying more deliberation to this issue and finding a system to help Hispanic students find their path to college will benefit them, their futures, the country, and will provide them with more opportunities to obtain that higher education every Hispanic dreams of.

Your sincerely,

Irlanda Silva

11th Grader at New Technology High School

Napa, CA