Chapter 10: The Educational Benefits of Mentoring for Latino Youth: Insights From a National Study

As swift global economic changes make a college education a critical prerequisite for stable employment (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011), a large percentage of Latinos are struggling to earn a high school diploma. In fact, Latinos have the highest dropout rates in the United States. Over 40% of Latino adults ages 20 and older do not have a regular high school diploma. In contrast, this is true for 23% of Black adults and 14% of White adults (Fry, 2010). The crisis is particularly acute among foreign-born Latinos. Nearly 52% of foreign-born Latino adults ages 25 and older have less than a high school diploma compared to 22% of native-born Latino adults (Pew Hispanic Center, 2009).