Daily News

Cambridge College Named a Best School for Latinos

SPRINGFIELD — Aside from purchasing a home, deciding where to attend college is one of the costliest, most long-term investments most individuals will make in their lifetime. Latino Leaders magazine identified the top 50 best colleges in the U.S. for Latinos, and two schools in Massachusetts made the grade, including Cambridge College.

Increasingly competitive job markets demand the right academic credentials to more aptly begin a career track. Yet, for minorities like Latinos, only 15% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to recent data by the Pew Research Center.

Yet, there are numerous reasons why some academic institutions better serve Hispanic students. They include the percentage of total Latino enrollment and the percentage of Latino faculty, the percentage of students who apply and receive financial aid, academic resources for minority students to acclimate to academic rigors of college life, and outreach efforts by schools to add to their overall diversity.

Institutional information provided by universities, along with independent sources like the Hispanic Assoc. of Colleges and Universities, joined data by U.S. News and World Report and other reporting agencies to serve as the basis for the research methodology in compiling the top 50 universities for Latinos, institutions that have excelled in their performance, outreach, and academic level in their relation to the nation’s Latino student population.