Coaching Can Help Latinx Students Persist Despite COVID Setbacks 

As we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, sobering statistics about Latinx students in COVID are capturing attention across the country. The Washington Post reported an 18% drop (as of January 2021) in applications for federal financial aid (through the FAFSA) from schools with a 75%+ Latinx enrollment -- a sign that the encouraging surge in Latinx enrollment over the last few years has hit a significant roadblock. Spring enrollment 2021 for Latinx undergraduates declined 5.3% from spring 2020, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

COVID has hit lower-income populations disproportionately hard, and Latinx communities have suffered setbacks that directly affect students' ability to enroll, persist, and pay for college. To quote The Washington Post:

"Minorities and lower-income Americans have contracted the coronavirus at higher rates and suffered higher levels of job losses. The financial disruption is forcing many Latino students to choose between their education and helping their families weather the recession." 

Coaching can be a significant force in turning this tide and empowering forward progress for Latinx students. Because coaching takes the whole student into account, a coach can focus on helping a student sort through family responsibilities, heavy time demands, navigating parents wanting more help at home, managing multiple jobs and roles, along with other issues that hamper performance. Working with a coach can also help a student sort through options in the face of a COVID-related health crisis, job setbacks, and/or financial strain. 

Hire and train strong Latinx coaches to empower Latinx students. While all staff can help students succeed, those with a similar background can have the most impact. Students have to see it to be it - all students need role models with whom they can relate. As students are lifted up and out of recent setbacks by the coaching process, so too can they lift their families and communities as they find their inner strength and limitless potential.

We honor and hold high our Latinx leaders who show us by example how to endure, persist, and thrive.

Learn how Examples in Excelencia 2021 Finalists are engaging Latinx students and working with them to achieve success.