Report Tracks Latino STEM Graduates

Excelencia in Education today released a report that lists the 25 colleges that graduate the most Latino students in science, technology, engineering and math. Using data from 2013, the nonprofit group found that 2 percent of all U.S. institutions graduate one-third of Latinos who earn STEM credentials. While the number of Latinos earning these credentials has increased, they still account for just 9 percent of STEM credentials earned. Latinos working in STEM also are concentrated in lower-paying jobs, with a higher representation in service fields than in professional occupations.

“The report shines a light on what many of us know to be true: that diversification within STEM postsecondary education, particularly among Hispanics/Latinos over the last decade, has been largely in the area of certificate/associate levels and diminishes at each successive level,” Gabriel Montaño, a research scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and president of the Society for Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, said in a written statement. “The result is an increasing discrepancy in positions of leadership within the STEM workforce.”

The lists of top colleges for the production of Latino STEM graduates follows:

Certificates Awarded to Latinos in STEM Fields

1. Instituto de Banca y Comercio Inc., Puerto Rico
2. South Texas College
3. Miami Dade College
4. Wyotech-Long Beach, Calif.
5. United Education Institute-Huntington Park, Calif.

​Associate Degrees Awarded to Latinos in STEM Fields

1. South Texas College
2. San Jacinto Community College, Texas
3. University of Phoenix-Online
4. El Paso Community College, Texas
5. Instituto Tecnologico de Puerto Rico-Recinto de Guayama

Bachelor Degrees Awarded to Latinos in STEM Fields

1. University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
2. Florida International University
3. The University of Texas at El Paso
4. Texas A&M University at College Station
5. University of Texas-Pan American

Master's Degrees Awarded to Latinos in STEM Fields

1. Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico
2. Florida International University
3. University of Texas at El Paso
4. University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
5. University of Southern California

Doctoral Degrees Awarded to Latinos in STEM Fields

1. Stanford University
2. University of California at Berkeley
3. University of Texas at El Paso
4. University of California at Davis
5. University of California at Irvine