The Self-Esteem of Hispanic and Latino College Students in the United States

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the present status of the Hispanic and Latino college students as a background information which may be relevant for an analysis of self-esteem and to suggest directions for future research. A brief description of the Hispanic community and its most important groups will be made, as Hispanic and Latinos are broad terms which include several different groups, each with its own hopes and aspirations, as well as problems and difficulties which may affect the students' self-esteem. I will describe the information we have about the Hispanic college students, from their transition from high school to college, to their college participation and completion, to provide some background from which to select potential topics or areas of interest for future analysis or future research in the area of Hispanic and Latino college students in the United States and their self-esteem.