Early College Planning Essential for Latino Student Success, Experts Say

Early College Planning Essential for Latino Student Success, Experts Say: ARLINGTON, Va. – In order to ensure better college access and success for Latino students from low-income backgrounds, institutions should help them put together college plans in the eighth grade and help them navigate the complex array of family dynamics and social forces in their lives.

That was one of the take-home points that University of Maryland higher education professor Alberto Cabrera offered up Thursday while presenting at a research conference titled Building Better Students: Preparation for Life After High School. The Educational Testing Service, the College Board, and the American Educational Research Association sponsored the conference.

“The main message that we want to convey to you is that success in college and beyond is seeded in the eighth grade, if not earlier,” Cabrera, a professor at the University of Maryland at College Park, told the conferees.