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"  Earlier this week, we shared our excitement with you over former CFL cover girl Eva Longoria getting her master&amp;#039;s degree from Cal State Northridge. According to Eva, &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re never too old or too busy to continue your education!&amp;quot;\u2014something she shared with us all on Twitter on her big day.  Our Spring cover girl has long been an advocate for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers. Her thesis was even titled &amp;quot;Success STEMS From Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM Careers.&amp;quot; [&amp;amp;gt; Which got us thinking, maybe Eva&amp;#039;s on to something. Education equals empowerment, and with the power and potential of the Latino community in the US\u2014currently America&amp;#039;s fastest growing population\u2014we have a responsibility to bridge the attainment and achievement gap in this country. Nearly nine-in-ten (89%) Hispanics agree that a college degree is important for success in life, but only about half that number (48%) say that they plan on getting a college degree. And according to data from the Census Bureau, only 33% of Latinos ages 18 to 24 are enrolled in school. That&amp;#039;s only one-third of our population. Eva says you&amp;#039;re never too old or too busy to continue your education, but we say you&amp;#039;re never too anything! Fear, money, even if you hate school\u2014none of those should be a deterrent to rise to the occasion.  If you don&amp;#039;t know what you&amp;#039;d go to school for (or go back for), look into Chicano Studies. In its origins at University of California, Santa Barbara, at the height of the Chicano Renaissance, the program was founded to examine the historical, social and cultural experience of Latino communities in the US. How much more close to home can you get?! We&amp;#039;ve always thought of Eva as our big sister, and we hope her degree will raise the profile for Latinas everywhere and inspire them to follow suit. Make us proud, mujeres! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/news/a13008/latinos-in-higher-education/>