The university is not the first option for many youth, an uninspiring panorama for Georgia’s Latino students. A lack of understanding of how the education system works and language barriers are among the obstacles for students and their parents as they adapt to school life in this country.

According to Bernadette Musetti, co-director of the UGA Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education – an organization seeking academic success for Latinos – the academic achievement of Latino students is fair.

“There are exceptions where the achievement is good, but they are few. It should be the norm,” said Musetti, who has extensive experience in the field of education. For her, each student has his or her own individual experience of the school system. “Many don’t have their parents’ support; they don’t even know which classes to take to prepare themselves,” recounted Musetti.

Although she did not wish to make generalizations about the Latino population, Musetti explained that Latino parents don’t seem to understand the connection between education and living standards.

“In many countries, education doesn’t pay. Here, however, there is a close relationship between education and high income,” she pointed out.

Musetti added that Latino parents have trouble understanding the public education system, which is not geared to address the needs of students who don’t speak English.

As for access to higher education, Musetti emphasized that high school students don’t have information about universities, the admission requirements or the costs involved in attending a university. All this contributes to a high dropout rate from school.

According to Craig Greers, an expert in the immigrant education project, one of the communities most affected by the problem of school dropouts is the children of immigrant parents and teens who travel alone to this country in search of work.

“There are people younger than 22 who have never finished school and who make their way here in search of work, without any thought of attending school,” Greers emphasized.

The UGA Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education is federally funded. For more information, please call 1 (800) 648-0892.