Academic Achievement of Latino/a Students Who Began College before Age 18 at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

There has been growth in Early College High Schools, and other similar programs, to improve racial/ethnic minority and first-generation students’ access to higher education. As a result, there has been an increase in nontraditionally aged students (e.g., students under 18) in higher education. Despite increases in students under 18 attending universities, little is known about these students’ academic achievement and experiences. This mixed method study addresses that limitation by using institutional and interview data from one Hispanic-Serving Institution to examine the academic achievement and college experiences of young Latino/a students (i.e., beginning college before the age of 18). Generalized estimating equations were used to compare the academic performance of Latino/as <18 to Latino/a students ages 18–24, and interviews were conducted with a subset of the students to understand the results. Quantitative results indicate that young students outperformed students who are 18–24 years of age in terms of GPA over three semesters in college. Interviews showed that participating in high school programs designed for college bound students; an openness to seek help; and avoidance of high-risk behaviors were possible explanations behind the academic success of young Latino/as.