I’m helping a recently-divorced friend with college planning for two kids, in 11th and 9th grades. The ex-spouse has a parent from South America, so my friend’s kids fit the description of “at least 1/4 Hispanic background.” This seems to be the eligibility requirement for a lot of scholarships and other programs. Other than a few words of Spanish (the kids said “beso” before they said “kiss”), there has been no focus in their family on Hispanic heritage. But it’s there, and it makes them eligible for some interesting possibilities.
I’d be interested to hear others’ experiences with pursuing such scholarships and programs when the ethnic identity factor is such a small part of the student’s identity.
The divorce will complicate financial aid at colleges that ask for both parents’ financial information (CSS Noncustodial PROFILE). See https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv to see which schools ask for the Noncustodial PROFILE.
Some of the biggest scholarships are available through the colleges, and are not ethnic identity based.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
(But verify on college web sites, since they may have changed since being put on the above lists.)
If they are 1/4 hispanic, why not choose that option?
Having a parent from SA seems about as hispanic as it gets unless you were an immigrant yourself.
ETA: Just for what it’s worth, my mom is from Spain and I didn’t get anything additional. I would generally check the “Hispanic” boxes but never the rare “Latina/o” box.
Being from South America does not necessarily make you Hispanic. More than a third of the population of Argentina are ethnic Europeans (mainly of Italian and Eastern European descent). Although most speak Spanish they would likely more closely identify as European.
This is all a subjective and personal choice, of course.
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WHY ??? These people are as “Hispanic” as it gets. How do you define Hispanic? How would you define a black person, from Brazil, for example? My Dad is ethnically German, he was born and grew up in Latin America, what is he?
Yes, @sgopal2, comment is wrong.
Government definition of hispanic:
“The U.S. Census Bureau defines the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino to refer to “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race” and states that Hispanics or Latinos can be of any race, any ancestry, any ethnicity.”
Most places asking such questions these days, don’t differentiate between Latinx and Hispanic. Same box.
From the US Census website:
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/meta/long_RHI725215.htm
Note that different parts of the government and different organizations may have different definitions of “Hispanic” and “Latino” (which are sometimes the same and sometimes different). Differences in the definitions may affect those with origins in Spain, Portugal, or Brazil, for example.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans
Of course, governments define ethnicity… No, actually every individual “identifies” as whatever he/she/ze/they feels like. In the current environment, these definitions are not definitions at all. The only basis for checking these boxes is to curry favor somewhere. So if it is plausible and your want to curry favor based on ethnicity you might as well check the box.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread. “Asking for a friend” threads are not allowed; we do not know that the friend is OK with you posting her personal details. As it is, the question has been asked many times before.
If your friend wants to open an account and ask the question, she’s more than welcome. In the meantime, she can look at the answers given in this thread, as well as look at earlier threads on the subject.