Hispanic scholarships worth checking out

At a time when the Hispanic population in the U.S. is growing fast, not enough of them are graduating from college. According to a study done last month by the Education Trust, 60% of white college students nationwide earn their bachelor degrees in six years or less, but only 49% of Hispanic college students complete that goal.

The researchers think the reasons behind that shortfall may be that Latinos don't have as much access to strong academic preparation, such as private tutors or Kaplan courses, as white students may have, and come from families without the financial resources to pay for four or more years of college.

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) aims to change those numbers. Since it was started 35 years ago, HSF has given out more college financial aid to the Hispanic community than any other U.S. organization in the country -- more than $300 million totaling nearly 100,000 scholarships to Latino students seeking Hispanic scholarships.