CHICAGO — Luis Rivera's life is a delicate balancing act with shifts at the University of Illinois' Chicago campus for as long as 12 hours a day, caring for his two young children and working as a research assistant at the school's College of Medicine.
Rivera, of Chicago, will complete his bachelor of arts with a major in Latin American and Latino studies, and is determined to succeed in medical school, which he starts this fall. But when he graduated high school nearly 16 years ago, he, like many of his Latino male counterparts, sidelined a college experience so he could work full time.
"I just felt so uncomfortable — I figured, you know, maybe the school thing just isn't me," Rivera, 33, said recently at UIC's Latin American Recruitment and Enrollment Services office, while holding his son Andres, 2.
Rivera's initial decision to skip college is typical among Hispanic men. While undergraduate enrollment among Hispanic men and women have spiked in the last decade, Latinas are by far outpacing their male counterparts, according to a recent study released by the American Council on Education.
In the past decade, college enrollment among Latina women increased by 70 percent, compared with 56 percent among Latino