|
| |
La educación universitaria
puede estar más a su alcance de lo que se imagina
A College Education May Be More Affordable Than You Think
The U.S. Department of Education Wants to Make More
Minority Families Aware of Financial Aid Services
By: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
What does the American Dream mean? For many families, it means a quality
education to enable young people to reach their true potential.
Today, Hispanic-Americans are making great progress toward achieving that dream.
Young Hispanic students are earning the best reading and math scores in three
decades, helping to shrink the nation’s achievement gap. Meanwhile, Hispanic
high school students are taking the SAT and ACT achievement tests in
ever-increasing numbers, a good indicator of college readiness.
All of this means greater opportunity and rewards for the future. Unfortunately,
many Hispanic-Americans are missing a golden opportunity to receive financial
assistance for college. In the 2003-04 school year, African- American and white
students received nearly $7,000 in financial aid on average, and Asian-American
students averaged more than $7,600. Hispanic college students, on the other
hand, averaged just $6,253 in aid.
Far too many families, especially those without a tradition of attending
college, do not know about the many options for financial aid. When they see the
high cost of tuition, they assume that college is out of reach. This is not the
case.
The U.S. Department of Education awards approximately $74 billion a year, which
represents about 70 percent of all student aid. Students may qualify for free
grants, low-interest federal loans or work-study programs. Most federal aid
awarded is based on financial need, making college affordable even for families
of modest means.
The U.S. Department of Education has made it easier for Hispanic- Americans to
learn about and qualify for student aid. It starts with the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, available electronically on the Department’s Web
site in English at
www.fafsa.ed.gov and in Spanish at
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/scomplete013.jsp.
A companion guide, Completing the FAFSA, is available in English at
www.studentaid.ed.gov/completefafsa and in Spanish at
http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2005_2006/Spanish/index.html
Copies in either language are available by mail at no charge by calling
1-800-433-3243.
The U.S. Department of Education has other tools to help families navigate the
road to higher education. Our informative booklet, Funding Education Beyond High
School--The Guide to Federal Student Aid, offers more details. By clicking onto
www.studentaid.ed.gov,
families can learn, in English or Spanish, what is needed to prepare their
children for higher education, to apply for and choose a college or university,
and to repay student loans after graduation. They can also learn how a college
degree can pay for itself in the long run through increased earnings.
Schools themselves have a responsibility both to their customers and to our
shared future. That is why I recently formed the Commission on the Future of
Higher Education, charged with developing a comprehensive, common-sense national
strategy to meet the education needs of America’s diverse student population, as
well as the economic and workforce needs of the nation. Hispanic Scholarship
Fund President and CEO Sara Martinez Tucker and Trinity University (Texas)
Professor Arturo Madrid are two of its 19 members.
In truth, the path to college begins well before high school. It begins with a
solid foundation of reading and math skills in elementary school. It continues
with rigorous, college-track coursework in middle and high school. It depends on
parents getting involved by monitoring homework and talking regularly with
teachers and principals. And it calls for motivated students to resist the
pressures to skip school or drop out.
Even when they do graduate, many students-two-thirds, according to a study by
the independent Manhattan Institute -- leave high school academically unprepared
to apply to a four-year university. About four in 10 high schools do not offer
Advanced Placement classes. About half the states do not require three years of
math or science to graduate. We can and will do better.
Since about 80 percent of the fastest-growing jobs of the future will require
some postsecondary education, our future depends on improving K-12 schools. That
is why President Bush worked with Congress to pass the No Child Left Behind Act
nearly four years ago. This bipartisan law is bringing high standards and
accountability to our public schools. It’s based on the belief that all children
can achieve high standards and that we should measure student progress every
year to make sure they do.
The law provides several key benefits to Hispanic students and families. Among
them: scientifically proven instruction from a highly qualified teacher; the
opportunity to learn English and other subjects at the same academic level as
other students; and regular school “report cards” to let parents know how their
kids are doing relative to their peers. The law also requires that teachers
create new opportunities for parental involvement.
Under No Child Left Behind, schools must report the academic performance of
student groups separately so that no Hispanic-American children are left behind.
The law also offers new options, such as free tutoring or transfer to another
public school, if the current school is not making the grade. And, whenever
possible, schools must provide student information in Spanish. The U.S.
Department of Education has published the free Tool Kit for Hispanic Families in
English and Spanish to help families learn about the law.
Is it working? The answer is yes. According to the Nation’s Report Card,
released in July, reading scores for Hispanic 9-year-olds and math scores for 9-
and 13-year-olds have reached all-time highs. The average Hispanic 9-year-old’s
math score increased by 17 points since 1999. This promises a brighter future
for all children.
More than ever before, it pays to have a college degree. Survey after survey
shows that Hispanic-Americans value education greatly. We must now help them
break down the barriers, both real and perceived, to a college education. It’s
time to apply the family-friendly principles of the No Child Left Behind
Act-scientifically based instruction, parent and family involvement, flexibility
and accountability-to that challenge. America’s continued success and prosperity
depend on it.
|
