Nearly Half of the Nation's Hispanic Students Want to Study Near Home

According to a report released today by a national education research institute, nearly half of the nation's Hispanic students attend a few colleges like those in the El Paso area because they are affordable, accessible and close to home.

"Today in America, the concentration of Latino students in a relatively small number of institutions is a very important finding," said Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education, a group that promotes higher education among Latinos, which conducted the study.

Brown said she hoped the information would spur debate among state leaders and university officials about how more colleges can attract Hispanic students.

About half of all Latino college students in the country during the 2003-2004 school year enrolled at just 6 percent of the country's more than 3,000 institutions of higher education, according to the report.

Nationwide, 236 two- and four-year colleges are considered Hispanic Serving Institutions because more than 25 percent of the student population at those schools is Hispanic. The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso Community College and New Mexico State University each have Hispanic student populations well above 60 percent.