Nine in ten young Latinos think that college education is important for success in life. But only half that number – about 48 percent -- say they themselves plan to get a college degree. That’s according to the 2009 National Survey of Latinos released by the Pew Hispanic Center this year.

The “education gap,” as the study dubs it, portends dire long-term consequences both for Latinos and for the United States. Seventy-four percent of “Latino youth, ages 16 to 25, with a high school diploma or less, are not enrolled and have no plans to return to school.” The reason most of them cited for not continuing their education was “the need to support family.”

Putting family first is a strength in any community. But current financial pressures on today’s Latino youth could be forcing them to feel like they have to make difficult choices between their family and their future.

Degrees do matter. A 2007 survey by The College Board found those with a bachelor’s degree “earn over 60 percent more than those with a high school diploma.” The estimated difference between the degrees over a lifetime of work is $800,000.

Some argue that expanding and improving vocational curricula that lead to jobs in the “real world” may be a better use of the country’s energy than trying to raise the number of college graduates. But for many immigrant communities, the attainment of higher education is the gateway to a better future.

Educators and community leaders gathered recently in Washington, D.C., to discuss the crisis in education at a daylong symposium sponsored by the Education Writers Association, Pew Hispanic Center, and the National Panel on Latino Children and Schooling under the rubric of New Journalism on Latino Children.

Juan Sepulvada, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, posed the question: “What is it going to take to create a college-going culture in our communities?” while fending off criticism that the Obama administration has yet to demonstrate a clear policy vision of how to accomplish that goal.

Two students who had enrolled in Youth Build Charter School in Washington, D.C., to pursue their GEDs after dropping out of high school were joined by students from Einstein High School in nearby Maryland, and one Einstein graduate now in college. Across the board, their pride in being ...