It takes a village: How counselors and psychologists support the college aspirations of students of color  

In the United States, over the last two decades, young adults of color (ages 18-24) have become increasingly likely to enroll in college. Between 2000 and 2018, for example, the enrollment rate among Black students rose from 31% to 37%, and for Latinx students it climbed even more steeply, from 22% to 36% (Hussar et al., 2020). Still, though, Black and Latinx college enrollments continue to lag behind the national average — during that same period, the enrollment rate for the overall student population rose from 35% to 41%.  

If you consider not only students’ race and ethnicity but also their gender, then even more troubling disparities appear. In 2018, the college-going rate was 41% for 18- to 24-year-old Black women and 40% for Latinas — right around the national average — but the rate was just 33% for Black men and 32% for Latinos, compared to 38% for men overall (Hussar et al., 2020).    

Even more important, of course, are college completion rates, and here, too, the data are alarming. In 2019, 40% of Black and 31% of Latinx 25- to 29-year-olds held an associate’s degree or higher, compared to the overall rate of 49%. And the gap was even wider for those with at least a bachelor’s degree: 29% of those who are Black and 21% of those who are Latinx, compared to the overall rate of 39%.