Iowa State is taking a unique approach to encouraging more Latino students to attend higher education with its “Juntos: Together for a Better Education” program.

Originated by faculty members at North Carolina State and adapted by Iowa State in 2013, the program was developed for Latino parents, primary caregivers and their teenaged youth. The program is meant to encourage Latino students to do well in high school and look at colleges for the future, going with their slogan, “to get together for a better education.”

The program’s goals include fewer dropouts, more college interest and more future planning for Latino students.

The program encourages high school students in eight communities across Iowa. Juntos meets once a week for two and a half hours in the evening for six weeks, and the students participate in after-school clubs and activities before and after the program with college-aged mentors.

Kim Greder, associate professor of human development and family studies, said Juntos brings together partners from Cooperative Extension, high schools and local community colleges, youth and their families and college-aged mentors to help the youth and their parents learn how to help the students succeed in school and attain access to higher education.

“Juntos is about helping youth succeed, not just in high school but also to open doors to them to seek higher education, which can help them further explore their talents and skills and earn income that moves them beyond simply a livable wage,” Greder said.

Though Juntos is directed toward Latino students, it can also be used with other ethnicities.

“While Juntos was developed for Latinos, the concepts taught in Juntos are transferable to other audiences, especially to individuals who are first-generation high school graduates or first-generation college graduates,” Greder said.

She said it is wonderful to be part of an educational network that is not only at Iowa State but is also at other universities.

Another aim of Juntos is to develop confidence and strength to the incoming Latino freshmen. The students in this program can relate to one another and can learn that they are not going through certain circumstances alone; the main circumstance is Latinos having a lower graduation rate than other racial and ethnic groups across the country and in Iowa, though Latinos are the biggest growing population in the U.S. and in Iowa.

Himar Hernandez, community development specialist for Iowa State, said many families have had a positive experience with the program.

“Families love the program,” Hernandez said. “The best example is that we have returning families … when another child comes to age to participate in the program.”

Hernandez said the growth of Juntos in communities is another signal that families appreciate and use the program.

“Another indicator that the program is well received is that, in many cases, the first Juntos program in a community is small, but the following Juntos programs in those communities grow in number of families that participate,” Hernandez said. “In some communities, we have had to put a limit on registration and have an ongoing waiting list.”