California Latinos face stark workforce training gap, study says
With community colleges turning students away for lack of available slots, Latinos are projected to face disproportionately higher workforce training gaps, a study released Friday found.
That means lower wages over the lifetime of an estimated 840,000 Latinos in California, according to a study from Corinthian Colleges and economic consulting firm Encina Advisors.
“California’s Latino community is likely to be affected disproportionately by budget cuts and overcrowding in community college classrooms,” the report said.
From 2008 to 2019, demand for community college education among Latinos is expected to increase 28%, but it’s expected to decline for whites and African Americans.
Being shut out of educational opportunities, the study said, would result in $17.8 billion in foregone personal income.
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A previous study released by Corinthian Colleges looked at the broader effect of budget cuts to California higher education and found that in the next decade, 2.45 million Californians who want a community college education will be unable to find a spot.
The report said that, on average, the typical 25- to 34-year-old makes $6,432 more a year with an associates degree than with a high school diploma.
The study said that Latinos in Los Angeles and Orange counties, which have high Latino populations, demand for career training and education opportunities already exceeds supply.
Nearly 412,000 Latinos who would like to attend community college will be unable to do so, the study’s authors wrote.
“This ‘skills gap’ will keep the unemployment rate unnecessarily high and curb longer-term financial prosperity for Latinos. These restraints will also make it difficult for Latinos to reach economic parity with other groups,” the report said.
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ricardo.lopez@latimes.com
