The second strike: They’re Latina. Hispanic women workers in the McAllen region in South Texas earn less than 40 percent of what white non-Hispanic men make. Nationally, Latinas lose an estimated $1.2 million in earnings over a 40-year working career because of these wage gaps.
The U.S. Department of Education’s latest update to the gainful-employment rule could be a third strike. A new income threshold test would require a majority of graduates of nondegree programs to be paid more than the median high school graduate in their state between the ages of 25 and 34. The change applies to all nondegree programs, including industry-aligned certificates for in-demand occupations that can be earned in less than a year. Programs that fall short on these new measures could lose access to federal financial aid.
