Creating pathways: How Penn State Berks is supporting Latino student success in Reading

WYOMISSING, Pa. — As Rogelio Flores started high school, college wasn’t yet part of the picture. Maybe, he thought, he’d become a professional boxer or work in construction or landscaping.

His perspective slowly began to shift before the end of his freshman year. Flores had been invited to participate in Upward Bound, a federally funded program that’s administered by Penn State. It’s available to freshman and sophomore students in nine designated school districts across the state whose parents or guardians do not hold college degrees.

Flores participated in the program for the next three years, receiving tutoring, academic support and career counseling. Each year, he said, his confidence grew, as did his interest in school. By the time he graduated from Reading Senior High School in June 2020, he had been accepted to the nearby Penn State Berks campus.

A future he’d only just begun to picture, now taking root.

Creating pathways to college

“Penn State Berks is located about five miles from the City of Reading, where the Latino population is growing and thriving, and we want to be a part of their story," explained Radha Pyati, chancellor and dean of Penn State Berks. "We want prospective students and families to know that Penn State is possible. We have Spanish-speaking faculty and staff who are here to help students with any challenges they may face, and to cheer them on and support their growth and success as well.”

According to the 2020 census, 69% of the City of Reading’s population is Latino. At Penn State Berks, Latino students make up 14% of the college’s enrollment, a percentage that is rising every year, in part due to the college providing a high degree of access.

Penn State Berks was recently recognized nationally for its commitment to providing access for students from all backgrounds and preparing those students to earn higher wages.

Among the initiatives that are making an impact is the Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP), an early-intervention collaboration between Penn State Berks and Reading High. Similar to Upward Bound, PEPP began in 1989 and is for students who show potential but who might lack the resources or desire to consider higher education.

The students invited to participate in PEPP are often Latino. In fact, 87% of students at Reading High, by far the largest high school of the 18 school districts in Berks County, are Latino.

“It’s a really wonderful program that has the capacity to create this well-established pathway to higher education for students who, traditionally, may not have thought about attending college,” said Guadalupe Kasper, assistant teaching professor and PEPP program manager.

In high school, Kasper said, she was that student, eventually becoming the first in her Latino family to go to college. She shares her story with PEPP students because, she said, some of them are facing the same realities at home even as access to higher education in the region improves.

“That first generation of Latinos that came to Berks County during World War II — including my grandfather — all they knew was work,” said Michael Toledo, president and CEO of Centro Hispano, which is located in Reading. “But my parents understood the importance of education and I was the first one in my family to go to college. Now there’s an understanding that education, whether it be college or a trade school, is critical. And that’s because our community has access to such education, when it didn’t 80 years ago.”

For the last 60 years, Centro Hispano has provided assistance to local residents on a variety of fronts, including finding employment and pursuing a college degree. It collaborates with Penn State Berks on several programs. Toledo describes the center’s role in this regard as a “convener,” introducing families, not only students, to Penn State Berks because trust, he said, is integral to their decision-making process.

Penn State Berks has earned the community’s trust by engaging with it and being a constant presence, Toledo said. That’s enough for college to become a consideration for many local Latino families. The key to making it a reality, Toledo said, is early intervention: Introducing high school and even middle school students to the various aspects of higher education, including campus life.

This tracks with Kasper’s experience. In one such exposure event, called “Be a Penn Stater for a Day,” PEPP students shadow Penn State Berks students for a day, attending classes, meeting faculty and hanging out around the campus. In surveys, many of the students who later went on to attend Penn State Berks said this event was the deciding factor.

Where higher education is concerned, Toledo’s goal is two-pronged: First, to enable more Reading High students to apply to college. And second, to ensure they are sufficiently supported throughout their time on campus so that they earn a degree and, ideally, become contributing members of the community.

After all, aspiring to attend college is one thing; earning a degree is quite another.

From access to achievement

Flores said he immediately felt a part of Penn State Berks, thanks to the campus’ support programs.

Before his first year, he enrolled in the Pathway to Success: Summer Start program, which enabled him to start taking classes that summer and meet other students. He also participated in Engineering Ahead, a four-week summer “bridge” program that features, in part, intensive math “boot camps,” facilitated tutoring sessions and an introduction to undergraduate research.

As a member of the Aspiring Scholars program, Flores took courses during his first year that helped lay the foundation for his college experience by sharpening his academic skills, exploring majors and careers and cultivating self-awareness and leadership ability. The program’s coordinator then continued working with him for the duration of his college career.

Flores said those first few months on campus felt like a “big, welcoming hug.”

A foundation for the future

Toledo said he has observed an increase recently in new college graduates seeking Centro Hispano’s help aligning them with local employment opportunities, something he attributes to the success of the outreach and programming. With more local students attending college in the Greater Reading area, he reasons that more will remain after graduating.

Flores graduated from Penn State Berks in 2024. He now works at SFS USA, a Wyomissing-based company that manufactures fasteners for commercial projects. After two years there as an intern engineer, Flores was hired as a product engineer. He’s since been promoted twice, most recently to site manager.

Asked what 15-year-old Rogelio would think of where he is now, Flores responded, “I’m sure he’d be really impressed with the way my priorities shifted and everything worked out in the end.”

About the series

This story is part of an ongoing Penn State News series exploring the Commonwealth Campuses and their connections to the communities they serve. The series highlights how campuses across Pennsylvania contribute to education, workforce development, research and regional engagement in unique and impactful ways.