Disclaimer: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers. All opinions are 100% mine.
My Latino parents were always supportive of the idea of college, but they never had the resources to send me or my sisters. It was not until after getting married AND having children that I found myself in the position of needing to get a college degree in order to make a necessary change in my career. I wish something like the HSF had existed for my folks to assist with getting me there sooner. Even as an adult, I spent a fair amount of time at my college admissions office, just trying to make sure all my chicks were in a row each semester. The road was difficult and challenging but I am proud to have completed my program and graduated with a bachelors and then this year with a masters degree. My parents were quite proud of me being the first college graduate in the family.
Did you know that Hispanics account for 19% of all college students, ages 18-24? That’s a major increase, up from 12% in 2008. What’s more, 69% of Hispanic graduates are now going directly to college after graduating high school, a rate that is higher than that of the general population.
But the surge in Hispanic college-bound students presents a greater need for more information about college and financial support. As all parents that have college bound students can attest, navigating the application process can be daunting. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund was created to ease the challenge of getting people into college. The children can get access to education resources such as primary english classes. Some of the more difficult things like navigating financial aid and making sure pre-requisites are just some of the things that the are made easier with the website.
Parents are the support system that kids need to get to and through college, but parents need support and encouragement too. HSF has many tools available at http://hsf.net/en/resources/parents/.
Scholarship season runs from Jan 1-Mar 30, but students can begin the application process now by creating a profile on HSF.net
