Hispanic and Latino parents know that a quality, effective education is the surest path to their children achieving their own American dreams. That is just one of the reasons that, according to a recent survey of 502 Hispanic and Latino parents of school-aged children in the United States, more than 63% said that they considered, searched for, or chose a new or different school just within the last year.
The results of this survey, conducted by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, demonstrate that demand for K–12 school choice among Hispanic and Latino families remains robust even in a post-pandemic world.
“The 63% of Hispanic parents who considered new schools last year speaks of the strong emphasis on education as the pathway to opportunity and success that our community has. These results are particularly significant because many Hispanic families face systemic barriers, such as language access and limited school choice awareness. Yet, our community is still actively seeking better options for our children. This level of engagement highlights the need for policies that expand accessible, high-quality educational opportunities.”
– Krissia Campos Spivey, Senior Director of Conoce tus Opciones, a project of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation.
What is School Choice?
School choice refers to the process of parents selecting traditional public, public charter, public magnet, private, online, home, and other non-traditional education options for their children. Over the past four years, more than half of U.S. states have enacted or improved policies that allow parents greater flexibility in choosing learning environments that meet their children’s needs.
School Search Trends
Hispanic and Latino families were moderately more likely than their peers to indicate that they considered new schools for at least one of their children last year (63% to 60.4%, respectively). Hispanic and Latino parents were more likely than white or Asian parents to consider new schools (57.8% and 59.3%, respectively), but less likely than Black moms and dads (67.8%).
For many in the Hispanic community, finding the right education for their child might seem out of reach. Of the Hispanic parents surveyed, 54% said that they would like to have more information about the available schooling options for their children. This holds particularly true for younger parents, as those between the ages of 18–29 polled at over 58%, and those between 30–44 polled at only slightly less.
| Total | 18-29 | 30-44 | 45-60 | 60+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Need more information | 54% | 58.2% | 57.6% | 49.7% | 53.1% |
| No need for more information | 46% | 41.8% | 42.4% | 50.3% | 46.9% |
Of the Hispanic families who made a switch, public sector schools were the most popular choices, accounting for more than 71% of those surveyed. Notably, more than 23% of Hispanic families chose public charter schools, outpacing the average and all other demographics surveyed. As for the rest of the Hispanic families who chose public sector schools, 26.6% preferred traditional public schools in their community, 9.6% chose traditional public schools outside of their community, and 11.7% selected magnet schools.
| Type of school | % of parents choosing |
|---|---|
| Traditional public schools in neighborhood | 26.6% |
| Traditional public schools outside neighborhood | 9.6% |
| Public charter schools | 23% |
| Public magnet schools | 11.7% |
| Homeschooling | 4.3% |
| Online learning | 8.5% |
| Private faith-based | 7.4% |
| Microschooling or hybrid learning | 8.5% |
Hispanic and Latino parents are more likely to choose microschools than most of their peers. A total of 8.5% of all Hispanic and Latino parents who enrolled their children in a new school indicated a switch in this direction, vastly exceeding the percentages among Asian and Black parents (3% and 2.9%, respectively) and matching the enrollment rate of white parents. Similarly, full-time online schooling was the choice of 8.5% of these parents.
Looking Ahead
School choice continues to be a hot topic among Hispanic families, as 60% said they had discussed school options with family or friends within the previous month. Looking to the future, over 42% said they are likely to choose a new school for their children next year.
To view our survey on all U.S. parents, check out our January 2025 survey.
