“College Knowledge” for Latino Communities

Nearly half the U.S. Latino population ages 18–25 have not completed high school, and only 15 percent earn a postsecondary degree, according to a recent report by the Education Commission of the States. To improve students’ opportunities for higher education, EDC developed the project known as PALMS (Postsecondary Access for Latino Middle- Grades Students).

Created by EDC’s Center for Family, School, and Community and funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, PALMS seeks to increase the number of Latino students who continue their education beyond high school. The project’s Web site provides information and resources for university-, school-, and community-based outreach programs that want to involve Latino parents in planning for their children’s college education.

PALMS focuses on middle school because this is the time when students make key choices about their futures and develop the knowledge and skills to take them through high school and beyond. PALMS is a collaboration of EDC, LULAC National Educational Service Centers, and the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.