The number of Latinos enrolled in the University of California has passed the number of Anglos for the first time, reported the California Public University System on Tuesday.
The rise in the number of enrolled Latinos in California, the state with the most immigrants in the country; however, has not passed the number of Asian Americans, the ethnic group with the largest number of enrolled students, reported The Wall Street Journal.
According to the same newspaper, the public university system of California reported that Latinos represent 28% of the 61,120 California students enrolled for the upcoming academic cycle starting on September, a figure that rose 27.6% in comparison to last year.
On their part, Anglo students represent 26.8% of enrolled students, well below Asian students, who maintain an enrollment figure of 36.2%.
These figures, however, contrast with the figure of African American students in college, an ethnic group that only represents 4.4% of enrollments, according to Los Angeles Times.
"It's still a difficult issue for the university. Without a doubt we would like to see more African Americans enrolling," said Stephen Handel, associate vicepresident of the UC.
Yolanda Copeland-Morgan, associate vicerector of UCLA, told Los Angeles times that the number of African American student requests rose by 5% this year; however, she admitted that the campus must make an effort to recruit more African American students to compete with other universities.
But in the case of Latino enrollment, California school authorities estimate that the rise in the number of Latino students is a symptom of the education change in the state with the largest Latino population in the US.
"The rise in the number of applications from Latinos to UC, and the number of those accepted is encourgaging, and shows that Latino families value an university education," Audrey Dow, from the Campaign for University Opportunities told The Huffington Post.