A Fiesta that Makes College Dreams Come True

A new financial aid website and a series of college-prep fairs are partnering to raise the graduation rateamong Latino students.

Latino college graduates have new reasons to celebrate.
Latino college graduates have new reasons to celebrate.


He was an excellent student and the first in his family of Mexican immigrants to finish high school. But when he sat down with his school's counselor to talk about going to college, he received discouraging advice: just go and work in the steel mills. That's how Marty Castro's story begins, but it's not how it continued. Castro is not only the first college graduate in his family, but also a graduate of The University of Michigan Law School, who became the first Latino to lead the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Castro's story, however, is a disheartening exception within the largest minority in the United States, as Latino students represent only 14% of all US students who have earned a college degree. In an effort to bridge the gap, Castro co-founded New Futuro, a website aiming to become "the largest Hispanic scholarship database" in existence. In this new sitem prospective college students are able to tap on different kinds of financial aid available, informational resources in English and Spanish, as well as career advice from other Latino professionals.

Discover current college programs available to help Latino students.


This year, New Futuro is partnering with Allstate and its Chief Diversity Officer, Mike Escobar, to offer a series of college fairs to Latino students around the country. According to Escobar, the "New Futuro College Prep Fairs" will visit five major US cities during the fall of 2012 to help prospective freshmen have better access to all the higher education resources available to them. These fairs are scheduled to open as follows:

Los Angeles

September 29th

Houston

October 6th

New York

October 20th

Miami

October 27th

Chicago

November 10th


Students and their families are invited to visit any of these events free of charge where they'll find:

· Custom-tailored and culturally-relevant information on getting an education, from pre-school to after college.
· Activities for the whole family, including rides and booth for children as well as Spanish-speaking advisors to help Spanish-only parents.
· "Latino Heroes" -- Hispanic professionals who will share their stories of success.
· A drawing for $35,000 in scholarships for prospective students.
· Door prizes that will include laptops among other gifts.

Castro, who wants Latino families to encourage their children to pursue a college career, is passionate about the future and hope these new endeavors can bring because "education is the foundation for the American dream."

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