Mexican American Student

Mexican American youth have lower graduation rates than other races. The academic success of Mexican American students has not increased as more Mexican American youth enter college. The purpose of this paper is not to determine if one ethnicity has more academic success in college. Rather, the purpose is to determine the graduation rates of Mexican American students who chose to enter college and that of the general population.
Female Mexican American students who choose to enter college and complete a degree, have more success than to male Mexican American students per Ojeda, Flores, Navarro (2011). Those who are first time college student have a harder time than the second generation of students. Mexican American students who ideally want
Noting that legal status is a strong factor for some of the first-time college students. Greenman and Hall (2013) state that undocumented students are more likely to come from socioeconomically strained households. Thus, creating the idea of college is attainable for student who wish to continue their studies. Perhaps that is one reason some Mexican American students choose to drop out of high school as they see no way of continuing their careers. Another strong factor that impacts Mexican American students is coming from low income families. Pena (2013:6) suggests that “for too many low-income students access to higher education has become a revolving door”. Although this is not always the case it does prevent many Mexican American student from continuing their studies. Greenman and Hall (2013) state undocumented students may be fearful of engaging with educational institutions may suffer from stress and financial uncertainty. One point that is argument also forgets to point out is the fact that documented students with undocumented parents may also have stress and financial
Also, depending in which generation the student is born in, they will have different values. Such as how they value their education, their way of living etc. Aguayo, Herman, Ojeda, Flores (2011:2) state the role that social class status, educational, occupational, and financial status plays on students’ academic outcomes. Although this is not always the case, it does play a large factor in the success of many Mexican American students. An interesting point to mention is that is the generational gap could explain how one would view their education or their social values. According to Aguayo (2011) “first and second generation Mexican American students were more motivated to achieve academically than their third-generation counterparts” (p.2).
Financial factor Determining the cost of a higher education is rather different for both type of students. Documented Mexican American students will have more access to obtain grants, loans etc. Undocumented student access is limited to the extent of almost no help for paying for college. Compared to others like the Anglos and Blacks tend to have easier access to such options. Navarro, Ojeda, Schwartz, Pina-Watson (2014:2) state that lack of cultural congruity between the values of universities and those of many Latina/o students may contribute to attrition and other challenges.
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