The Enrollment and Attainment of Hispanic Youth in the New Settlement Areas

Richard A. Fry, Pew Hispanic Center

Since 1990 the Hispanic population has dispersed to nontraditional places. Using Census data, this analysis documents the growth of Hispanic adolescents in new settlement areas versus traditional Hispanic metros and then carefully examines the trends in some of the basic educational outcomes of Hispanic teens. Similar to white and black youth, Hispanic teens educated in traditional Hispanic areas have improved their likelihood of completing high school. There has not been comparable progress for Hispanic youth in the new settlement areas. However, the penalty for residing in a new settlement area is not confined to Hispanic youth. NonHispanics in new settlement areas also have less favorable educational outcomes than their nonHispanic counterparts in the traditional Hispanic metros. Rather than an issue of immigrant adaptation per se, the subpar outcomes of Hispanic youth in their new school communities also reflect broad, long-standing geographic disparities in education.