The Atlantic, September 14, 2016: Why Colleges in Appalachia Are Recruiting Latinos

“The result: ‘The survival of small, liberal-arts colleges is predicated on widening outreach to the Hispanic population,’ said Deborah Santiago, the co-founder and vice president for policy at Excelencia in Education, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization focusing on Hispanics. Hispanic high-school graduates nationwide have started to enroll in college at slightly faster rates than non-Hispanic whites and blacks, according to the Pew Research Center. But most choose community colleges, Pew reports, and have comparatively poor four-year graduation rates. The situation in Appalachia—a ballooning Hispanic population in an area where small, private liberal-arts colleges are looking for new markets—puts it on the front lines of this collision. Students such as Barrera Cantu and schools including Lenoir-Rhyne suddenly need each other.”