Latino Population Growth, Demographic Characteristics, and Educational Stagnation: An Examination of Recent Trends

Abstract

This article is an introduction to the special issue of the Hispanic Journal of the Behavioral Sciences on Latino demographic trends and educational concerns. It provides a broad overview of Latino population trends in light of 1990 Census and other recent data. One focus in this article will be on the phenomenal increase of Latinos. Population countsfrom the 1990 Census indicate that the Latino population grew many times faster in the 1980s than did the total population. An analysis of socioeconomic characteristics such as educational attainment, income, and language status with respect to educational trends is also presented here. The high rate of immigration in the 1980s has resulted in a rapid increase in the non-English language background (NELB) and limited-English proficient (LEP) populations. We discuss three issues that have marked impacts on Latino access to college: school segregation, growth of youth population, and low socioeconomic status. A major conclusion is that Latino education will continue to stagnate inface of the dramatic growth of the Latino population, if the status quo goes unchallenged.