On October 8, 2008, the Center for Latino Policy Research (CLPR) at the University of California, Berkeley released a research brief on transfer preparation issues confronting Latinos titled “Untapped Potential: Latinos and California Community Colleges”. The brief was written by Lisa Chavez, a research analyst at the Warren Institute, who conducted this work as a research associate at the CLPR.
In this brief, Chavez shows that Latinos are now the largest group of students who begin their postsecondary studies at a California community college after graduating from a public high school. The explicit linkage between the community college system and the state’s public 4-year colleges represents a prime opportunity to increase the number of Latinos that earn four-year degrees via the system’s transfer function. The brief describes current transfer rates among Latinos, reviews the literature on the barriers to transfer, and concludes with a cohort analysis of Latino community college students that describes their demographic profiles, coursework patterns, transfer readiness and outcomes. Chavez concludes that California’s community college system is not close to reaching its potential as a stepping-stone to four-year colleges and universities for Latino students.