Abstract

The 2000 Census confirmed the demographic reality that Latinas/os ¹ had become the largest ethnic/racial group in the United States, representing approximately 13% of the total population. During the 1990s, many had projected a steady growth in this population (Chapa, 1997), but few had anticipated the wide discrepancies that would emerge between their population increase and their levels of educational attainment (Ramirez & De la Cruz, 2003). Indeed, today, Latinas/os are not only the largest and fastest growing ethnic/racial group (Villalpando, 2004), they are also the least educated major population group in the country (Fry, 2002).