Facts about Latina Educational Attainment

Latinas in the United States encounter many structural barriers that prevent them from accessing higher education. These barriers include socioeconomic factors such as lack of access to quality elementary and high school education, cultural and language barriers, and income inequality and wage gaps.¹ Numerous studies have found that individuals with a Bachelor’s degree experience lower unemployment rates and earn more than those without.² Consequently, many policy efforts have focused on improving graduation rates at four-year universities, especially for students of color.³ Although barriers to accessing higher education continue to pose challenges, Latinas have made significant progress in increasing their representation among those with bachelor’s degrees. This data brief presents information on the educational attainment of Latinas ages 25 and older compared to Latino male peers. It also highlights educational attainment differences within the Latino community by age, descent group, and other characteristics. This brief uses data from the Latino Data Hub, which draws from the 2021 pooled 5-year American Community Survey (ACS).

The number of Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher has been increasing steadily, from almost 1 million in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2021 (Figure 1). Over this same period, the percentage of Latina adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher almost doubled (from 10% in 2000 to 20% in 2021) (Figure 2). Furthermore, the rate of college-educated Latinas grew faster than Latino males and the overall male and female populations. However, despite this growth, Latina educational attainment still lagged behind the overall U.S. population in 2021 (20% versus 33% for the overall male and 35% for the overall female population). 

Younger Latinas are obtaining bachelor’s degrees at considerably higher rates than older generations. A quarter of Latinas ages 25 to 34 had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2021, compared to 16% of Latinas ages 55 to 64 (Figure 3). The trend is less notable for Latino males: 18% of Latino males ages 25 to 34 had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 16% of Latinos ages 55 to 64.

Latinas in many East Coast states are more likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher than those in West Coast and Southwest states (Figure 4). The states with the highest percentages included Vermont (54%) and the District of Columbia (53%) —where over half of Latina adults had a bachelor’s degree—followed by Maine (41%), West Virginia (30%), and Alaska (30%). 

States with the lowest percentages of Latinas with a bachelor’s degree included Oklahoma (13%), Nevada (12%), Arkansas (12%), and North Dakota (11%). In recent decades, several of these states have experienced substantial Latino population growth. North Dakota, for instance, experienced the fastest growth in the Latino population among U.S. states from 2000 to 2020.⁴

Females are more likely than males to have obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher for every racial and ethnic group except for Asians or Pacific Islanders (Figure 5). However, the percentage point difference between females and males is greater for women of color. Among white individuals, 38% of women had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 37% of men. Among Black women, that percentage was 26%; in comparison, 20% of Black men had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Twenty percent of Latinas had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher versus 16% of Latinos. 

Latinas of almost every descent group are more likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher than their male peers, except for Peruvians and Bolivians (Figure 6). 

Latinos of South American descent tend to have the highest rates of individuals with a bachelor’s degree or more. Of the 19 Latino descent groups analyzed here, 8 of the top 10 are South American. Over half of Latinas and Latino males from Venezuela had a bachelor’s degree or higher (Latinas 57% and Latino males 56%), the highest rates among Latino descent groups. Venezuelans are also the fastest growing Latino descent group in the U.S. over the last 20 years, helping to narrow the educational attainment gap between Latinos and the U.S. population.⁵

In contrast, individuals of Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Honduran descent have the lowest rate with a bachelor’s degree. Only 12% of Guatemalan Latinas and 10% of Guatemalan Latino males had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher. 

Among different citizenship groups, U.S.-born Latinas are the most likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher, while noncitizens are the least likely. A quarter of U.S.-born Latinas had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 20% of U.S.-born Latino males. Twenty percent of naturalized Latinas had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 19% of naturalized Latinos. Regarding noncitizens, 11% of Latinas and 9% of Latino males had a bachelor’s degree or higher (Figure 7). 

Latino veterans, regardless of sex, are more likely to have at least a bachelor’s degree than Latino nonveterans. Furthermore, the gender differences observed for all Latinos, where Latinas had higher attainment than Latino males, are more pronounced amongst veterans. While there is a gap of 4 percentage points between Latinas and Latino males in the nonveteran population, the gap amongst veterans is 11 percentage points. Thirty-five percent of Latina veterans had a four-year college degree or higher, equivalent to the rate of the overall U.S. female population, compared to 24% of Latino male veterans (Figure 8). Among Latinas, veterans were 15 percentage points more likely to have completed a college degree compared to nonveterans. 

English proficiency is a key factor in obtaining higher levels of education. Across different levels of language proficiency, Latinas continue to have higher levels of educational attainment than Latino males (Figure 9). Latinas with limited English proficiency had the lowest rates of having obtained a bachelor’s degree (10%). 

While a college degree offers workers greater job security and better wages, Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher earn a lower median hourly wage than most other college-educated groups, regardless of race and sex.⁶ In 2021, Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher earned a median hourly wage of $26 (Figure 10), the second lowest of all workers by race, ethnicity, and sex. Compared to similarly educated Latino men, Latinas earned $6 less per hour. Compared to similarly educated white men, Latinas made $14 less per hour. 

The journey toward accessing a college education is a continuous struggle, but Latinas have made significant progress in recent decades. The data show that: 

● The number of Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher has steadily increased over the last two decades, rising from 1 million in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2021. 

● Latinas are more likely to have a bachelor’s degree or higher than Latino males. This is true among almost all age groups, Latino descent groups, nativity and citizenship statuses, veteran statuses, and English proficiency levels. 

● Younger generations of Latinas are obtaining bachelor’s degrees at higher rates than previous generations. 

● Latinas of South American descent are the most likely among Latino descent groups to have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, while Latinas of Honduran, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan descent are the least likely. 

● Latina veterans are 15 percentage points more likely to have completed a college degree than nonveteran Latinas. 

● Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher earn a lower median hourly wage than most other college-educated groups, regardless of race and sex.

This data brief was made possible by the generous support of the James Irvine Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and the California Legislature, which provide core operating support for the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.

1. Marissa Montalban, “Barriers to Latina Access of Higher Education” (Rhode Island: Honors Program at the University of Rhode Island, 2012), available online.

2. Pew Research Center, “The Rising Cost of Not Going to College” (Pew Research Center, 2014), available online.

3. Campaign for College Opportunity, “A Rising Tide in Graduation Rates at the California State University (CSU), a Persistent Divide in Racial Equity: A Progress Report on the Graduation Initiative 2025” (Los Angeles, CA: Campaign for College Opportunity, August 2023), available online.

4. Jie Zong, “Mosaic, Not A Monolith: A Profile of The U.S. Latino Population, 2000-2020” (Los Angeles: UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute, 2022), available online.

5. Luis Noe-Bustamante, “Education Levels of Recent Latino Immigrants in the U.S. Reached New Highs as of 2018” (Pew Research Center, 2020), available online.

6. Silvia R. González, Veronica Terriquez, Lana Zimmerman, and Paul M. Ong, “5 Facts about Latina Workers in California” (Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, October 2024), available online.

7. Clay Banks, "Woman wearing academic dress," published December 22, 2019, available online.