Cerritos College community has gone above and beyond in representing the Latino community. The college is ranked seventh in the entire nation among the top 100 community colleges for Latino students.

The colleges website claims the college is ranked 38th in handing out associate degrees earned by Latino students.

In 2020, Cerritos College was ranked eighth among the top 100 schools in the nation with the highest Latino enrollment.

Cerritos College was also ranked second in the state for Latino transfers to the California State University system in 2015.

Cerritos College has roughly a 70% Latino student population. The community at this colleges thrives of the diversity provided by the different cultures on campus.

Freshman student athlete Angel Hernandez has had a smooth adjustment to college thanks to the accepting environment of Cerritos College.

“I love Cerritos. From what I have experienced everyone is super cool,” says Hernandez.

Hernandez plays on the football team for the Cerritos Falcons.

“There are a lot of Latinos on our team and what I really like is how the coaches treat everyone the same. They do not care what you look like, what matters to them is how good you can play football,” says Hernandez.

Hernandez said that throughout his life a lot of coaches have not payed a lot of attention or given a lot of respect to Latino players.

“Cerritos has had a lot of Latino players go D1 from their program. As long as you can play the game and take care of school Cerritos will do it’s best to get you out.”

In the short time Hernandez has been here he has already gained a lot of respect for the program and the Cerritos College community.

Sophomore Grecia Sanchez is also very fond of the Cerritos College community.

“There’s been a continuous amount of support and the professors do a good job of making everything collaborative for all students.”

Sanchez says that Cerritos College does a really good job of making her feel comfortable in every classroom she’s been in.

“I feel like the school provides a lot of resources geared towards the Latino students.”

“There is a lot of acceptance towards our culture,” says Sanchez. “The school emphasizes the importance of our ethnicity and the role it plays in our identity.”

Sanchez really appreciates the effort the school puts into its students.

“You don’t see that in a lot of schools,” says Sanchez.

All of Cerritos College is responsible for the representation of the Latino community. From the teachers, to the faculty and to the students.

Even though Cerritos College has come a long way in their journey for Latino representation there is still always room for improvement.

Cerritos looks to expand their variety of ethnicities and cultures in the future.