By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-908738.mp3
Dallas, TX – Freshman college enrollment is the highest it's been since 1968, according to a PEW research study. Hispanic enrollment is up even more, but Texas numbers lag slightly behind the national figures. Bill Zeeble has more.
Research author Doctor Richard Fry says freshmen enrollment nationwide rose 6 percent, but in Texas, college freshman enrollment rose just 4 percent.
Fry: Maybe it's the case that the great recession just simply in terms of the job market, Texas has not been as heavily hit, as say California, Arizona or Nevada, that's a suspicion on my part. That may be why the enrollment gains have not been as great, but I don't know that for a fact.
Fry's national research shows Hispanic freshmen enrollment accounts for the majority of the higher numbers. And from that national perspective, he sees a possible educational blessing in the downturn.
Fry: Maybe a silver lining of this recession, is more youth including more Hispanic youth, are not only enrolling in college, but they're staying in high school and finishing.
The research looked at college freshman enrollments in 2008.