Following a national trend, more Latino students are graduating from Penn State than ever before, though a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center shows an education gap between Latino immigrants and Latinos born in the United States.

The number of Latino students enrolled at University Park has nearly doubled in the past decade, from 643 in 1992 to 1,223 this year. The graduation rates of Penn State's Latino students are also high, with the six-year rate for University Park at 68.3 percent in 2001. This means Latinos had the second highest minority graduation rate for Penn State in 2001, below Asian Americans, who graduated at a 75.6 percent rate. The overall six-year graduation rate for University Park was 80 percent in 2001.

Terrell Jones, vice provost for educational equity, said all minorities at Penn State are showing academic excellence.

"All students of color are graduating at a strong rate [from Penn State]," Jones said. "We have the highest graduation rate for minority students in the Big Ten."

Jones said increased Latino enrollment at Penn State might be partly due to a large percentage of Latinos living in York, Lancaster, Allentown and Reading who attend Penn State.

B. Lindsay Lowell, director of research at the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the study that was released Sept. 5, said the number of Latino college graduates has increased because the countries they immigrated from have improved their educational systems. He also said Latino children who have come to the United States have received all their education in American schools.

Although Latino graduation rates are significantly higher than in past years, Ed Escalet, director of minority admissions and community affairs, said some Latinos have difficulty affording increasing college tuition costs because the income of many Latino families has remained the same.

"The challenge is going to be how we can we make it affordable," Escalet said. "[Penn State] is still a quality buy. But it's not a community college."

To assist with these matters, Penn State offers the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) to freshmen from families of seasonal migrant workers, some of whom are Latinos. CAMP provides tutoring, financial aid and academic, personal and financial counseling to 30 students this year.

Cathleen Love, associate vice provost for educational equity, said the program assists parents who are unfamiliar with the financial system of paying for college.

Another reason for the increase in Latino graduation rates is that most graduates are at least second-generation college students.

"Second-generation college students do better than the first," Jones said.

David Esqueda (senior-electrical engineering) was named Mr. Latino Penn State this semester. He said he is pleased Latino enrollment and graduation rates have risen. "I think it's a great thing," he said. "It's been shown in the past through statistics that Latinos have had a rather low enrollment. Penn State has taken some steps to further minority enrollment."

The increased enrollment of Latinos may not be as "visible," Escalet said, because many have a mixed heritage and some do not have Latino-sounding last names.

Jones and Escalet said they expect the trend of increased enrollment of Latino students at Penn State to continue.