Hispanic College Fund Latino high schoolers say they find the Hispanic College Fund's events informative, inspiring and entertaining.

"I want to see Robert, my son, like Ms. Sotomayor," he says, referring to the first Latina Supreme Court Justice. "So we say, 'Robert I'm working so hard, your Mom and myself, so you have to go to college. You have to go to the university, to get a degree in something. That's the only way you can reward us.'"

The Hispanic College Fund fills the gap for students like Robert and Karen - whose parents realize how important higher education is but are unable to guide them through the process. The fund was established six years ago to give young Latinos the information they need to apply for college and the self esteem to succeed once they get there. Program founder George Cushman says many young Hispanics think they are not smart enough to go to college.

Investing in the future

"What we have to do is change that thinking completely because these kids are fantastic," says Cushman. "In Virginia, I had a number of students come up to me when they found out that I had actually set this program up and they said, 'Thank you for believing in us.'"

Cushman believes motivating and helping Hispanic youth get college degrees is an investment in the future of both the students and the nation.

"In America, there's many people like me in their 50s and 60s. They are highly educated. They are the engineers, the doctors, the lawyers, the health care professionals, the teachers. They are all hitting the exit doors because it's time to retire soon," he says. "The largest fastest-growing student population to follow in our footsteps is Hispanic, but they're getting college degrees late.You can feel the vacuum forming. If we don't fix that, it's going to hurt the economy. It's going to hurt the security of the country."