GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On a Tuesday afternoon, students fill Davenport University’s campus, but the school and others across the country lack scholars from a key demographic.
Hispanic people find themselves the least represented population in higher education, despite being one of the fastest growing communities in the United States.
According to U.S. Census data, 20.9 percent of Hispanics over the age of 25 held a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2022.
“Sometimes they [Hispanic people] feel that their linguistic skills are not developed enough to come to come to the university… Sometimes they feel that maybe a college setting is not for them, they don't see themselves reflected in it,” said Carlos Sanchez.
Sanchez serves as the executive director of Casa Latina, a new initiative at the university that looks to change that trend.
Beginning next fall, Davenport will offer an option to teach 11 of its undergraduate and graduate online academic programs in English and Spanish.
“Let's say [for example] our bachelor's in marketing — One week we will be in Spanish, one week in English, and so on so forth,” said Sanchez. “We're not repeating what we saw in the previous week, we’re just moving up.”
According to Sanchez, the university selected degrees geared toward high-paying careers. They hope to enroll 209 students for the inaugural class. Other bilingual support serves will be given too like counseling and tutoring.
“Each of the close to 90 courses is being redesigned right now,” said Sanchez. “We’re looking for subject matter experts to help us in redesigning those courses [and] we're looking for professors that were able to teach those classes.”
With professional proficiency in both languages, Sanchez says scholars can better market themselves to employers who want those skills in an increasingly globalized workplace.
He hopes in turn it improves areas like Kent County.
“It’s really going to make an impact on people's lives,” said Sanchez. “I want to see… more Latinos in in higher ed and I want to see those individuals that maybe came from a, came from their countries with some college, I want to give them the opportunity to get a degree and then grow within their organizations.”