Hispanic Business Owners & the Power of a College Degree
What you can do as a Latino entrepreneur and small business owner
When I went to college, I had no idea what I was in for. I was the first in my family to go to a university in this country. My frame of reference was high school, but that frame was shattered as soon as I discovered that I had direct control over my curriculum and my schedule in ways that I never had in high school. (I could study what I loved, and at times that suited me!) I also discovered that the kind of learning was much deeper and more insightful, in part because my professors were experts in their disciplines, in part because I had more agency in the learning path. The combination of a specialization (or two: I completed two majors) and broad exposure to multiple disciplines (through general education courses and electives) was a perfect way to prepare me to be a civically engaged, intellectually curious, critical-thinking life-long learner.
Long story made short, I liked it so much that I went on to graduate school and chose a career in higher education, first as a professor of linguistics and eventually as an administrator with roles that have always centered on how to help students succeed—and success really means getting the degree, be it an associate, a bachelor’s, a master’s, or a doctorate.
So, it pains me to see the many people in the United States who either never go to college or start it and never finish. It’s astounding, actually, that in 2022 only 56% of the US population aged 25-34 has an associate degree or higher. For Hispanics, it’s much lower, 31%, a crisis for our community. (To dive into data related to degree completion, check the report A Stronger Nation, from the Lumina Foundation.)
After over two decades in higher education, I’ve seen (and studied, and tried to cultivate) the important advantages of completing a college degree:
- People with a college education have a better chance of getting a good job (paying above the national average) in a promising occupation, and have higher starting salaries and overall lifelong earnings (people with a bachelor’s degree earn $1M more over their lifetime than people with just a high school degree).
- People with a college education are also more likely to engage in cultural activities, including doing things like taking their children to museums and concerts, and are more likely to expect that their children will succeed in school and earn a college degree.
- People with more education are more likely to be happy, have better health outcomes, live in more stable relationships, and live longer.
- And last, but certainly not least, people with more education are more civically engaged, are more likely to participate in democracy, and even have lower inclinations toward authoritarianism.
I won’t speculate on whether the cause of all of these effects is directly college education or some of the context around it (for instance, at college, you make friends who expand your social circle and who later may help you advance in your career). But considering all this evidence—especially that college degrees continue to be required for almost all jobs that will help people earn family-sustaining wages—it’s clear that we need to get more people, from more diverse backgrounds, to complete degrees. The data tells us that for the Latino community this is an urgent imperative.
What can you do as a Latino entrepreneur and small business owner? You have the power to inspire and support our next generation in pursuing higher education. By offering internships, mentorship programs, and scholarships, you can provide invaluable opportunities as well as financial support. Promoting the benefits of a college education through community events that disseminate success stories can also motivate Latinos to see the value in completing a degree. Together, we can create a culture that values and prioritizes education, ultimately strengthening our community and paving the way for lifelong advantages to all.
Related content:
What Is Being Wasted in Education, and Is the Circular Economy the Solution?
