Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) is a time to honor the diversity, resilience, and contributions of Hispanic/Latine students across our community colleges—and to reflect on how we can better understand and support their experiences and aspirations.
In the California Community Colleges (CCC) system, students can identify with 19 Hispanic/Latine ethnic categories through CCCApply. Yet in most reports, those 19 identities are rolled up into a single “Hispanic/Latine” category. While aggregation can simplify reporting, it can also obscure meaningful differences in students’ experiences and outcomes, making some communities less visible in the data.
To commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month, we are releasing more nuanced data to highlight the rich diversity within our Hispanic/Latine student population. Behind that single category are students who identify as Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Colombian, Puerto Rican, Afro-Latino, Indigenous, and many more, each bringing unique languages, cultures, histories, and lived experiences that enrich and strengthen our colleges and communities.
Who are our Hispanic/Latine students?
Hispanic/Latine students make up nearly half of all CCC students. Within this population, 57% identify as Mexican and nearly one-third identify as Hispanic/Latine without selecting one of the 19 specific ethnicities included in CCCApply.
Data Source: CCCCO Vision 2030: 2021-22 Cohort.
These numbers remind us that Hispanic/Latine students are not a monolithic population. Disaggregating the data allows us to see patterns that may otherwise remain hidden—and to ask better questions about who is being served well, who may be experiencing barriers, and what colleges can do to better support their students.
How are Hispanic/Latine students progressing through the CCC system?
The data below show that, overall, 17% of Hispanic/Latine students complete a certificate, associate degree, or community college bachelor’s degree within three years. However, completion rates vary across different Hispanic/Latine groups, with Venezuelan, Argentinean, and Chilean students experiencing the highest rates and Puerto Rican, Honduran, and Panamanian students experiencing the lowest.
These patterns should not be interpreted as deficits within students. Rather, they clearly remind us that equity gaps reflect deeply rooted system structures and underscore the need to dismantle the barriers that contribute to these disparities. At the same time, the data alone cannot tell us why these differences exist. Understanding the experiences behind the numbers requires pairing quantitative data with student voice, community knowledge, and a closer examination of the policies and practices that shape students' experiences.
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we invite researchers and practitioners to look beyond the numbers: Whose experiences are visible in our data? Whose experiences might be obscured? What can we learn when we take a closer look?
For additional considerations, see our Visibility Guide: An Examination of Aggregation and Suppression Practices in Race and Ethnicity Data, which explores how data aggregation and suppression practices can hide or silence student experiences and offers more inclusive approaches to data collection and reporting.
We extend our sincere thanks to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office for providing the foundational data that makes these critical conversations possible.