Abstract
According to Krogstad and Lopez (2015) "the Hispanic population reached a new high of 55.4 million in 2014 (or 17.4% of the total U.S. population), an increase of 1.2 million (2.1 %) from the year before. California still leads the list (15.0 million), followed by Texas (10.4 million) and Florida ( 4.8 million). Together, the three states account for more than half (55%) the Hispanic population" (paragraph 2). The trend of that Hispanics are becoming the majority has been well-publicized. Along with the increasing Hispanic population comes a great deal of responsibility for higher education faculty, staff, and administrators to meet the demand that more of the Latino population graduate college. Additionally, the interest of Hispanic students attending and completing college is at the center of many conversations. For the Latino population, there is a disparity between college enrollment and degree completion. Males, furthermore, are in more danger of dropping out or never beginning a college education (Gloria, Castellanos, Scull, & Villegas, 2009). Many educational trends have occurred over decades that have shifted the focus away from Latino males to females with regard to college completion. Thus, it is imperative to explore the gender gap in the Latino student population while considering the population growth of Latinos in the United States (Gloria et al., 2009). Among the growing population of Latinos, it is females who are completing their degrees; but males come in at a distant second. Many programs and resources are available, but many Latino male students fall short of completion. Thus, the purpose of this study is to distinguish the experiences and perceptions that contribute to, and the factors that play a role in, Latino males' ability to graduate from a 4-year public institution. Exploring what it means to be a Latino male in these times will help identify areas that would support Latino males on their path to college completion. The emphasis needs to shift to completion of college rather than just getting Latino males into college. The quantitative study took place at California State University, Sacramento. The sample population consisted of 130 third- and fourth-year Latino male students who were enrolled at the university at the time of the study. The electronic survey included questions focusing on six different areas: (a) parents' highest level of education, (b) their demographic identity, (c) obligations to complete college, (d) high school preparation and community college preparation, (e) financial aid process, (f) sense of belonging on campus, and (g) the overall experience of being a Latino male student at Sacramento State. The study focused on third- and fourth-year Latino males in college who had created perceptions through experiences during their time in higher education. The findings showed there is room for further research to develop better ways to serve more Latino males. Many of the participants involved in the study made it clear that their parents did not complete middle school, but that was not an option in the survey. If students' parents cannot support them even through high school, then Latino male students might have a much more difficult time arriving at college and completing college. It is crucial to develop a true partnership between K-12 and higher education, meaning, establishing co-curriculum, creating a student affairs atmosphere in the K-12 system, and leadership coming together to analyze what the needs are for student success beyond the classroom. Creating a true and strong partnership could forge a success-laden pathway for students to follow to college and through college.