Hispanic men and women represented just 4.5 and 3.9 percent, respectively, of student-athletes in the NCAA during the 2008-09 academic year. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of Hispanics playing college sports grew at a glacial pace, from 3 to 4.2 percent, even as Hispanic students have become more prevalent on college campuses — 12 percent of students were Hispanic in 2007, according to Census data. Hispanics account for 15.8 percent of the U.S. population.
