Research conducted over the years by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and other institutions confirmed that parents play a critical role in their children's education. However, while many Latino parents recognize the importance of college for their children, most don't have the knowledge and tools to help. In fact, many Latino parents believe that college is out of reach for their children because it is too expensive. For this reason, HSF created a parental engagement campaign titled “Your Words Today” to help overcome those barriers so we can get more Latino children into college.

The campaign slogan is "De tus palabras de hoy depende su mañana," or "Their tomorrow depends on your words today." In other words, parents' encouraging words will help their children aspire to a college education. Because parent involvement is critical, we want to inspire parents to learn about the types of colleges and the financial aid available to them, and to take a more active role in their children's education.

The secondary message is that college is achievable for their children. While it may seem out of reach because of the cost, the reality is that billions of dollars in financial aid are available to qualifying students. HSF supports parents and students by providing them with the guidance and tools they need to make informed decisions about the path to college and the financial aid process.

The Your Words Today Campaign launched nationally on April 27, 2010. Working with the Ad Council (www.adcouncil.org), we developed public service announcements for radio, TV, print, online and outdoor media to promote the message of parental involvement in their children’s college education. The resources provided through this site include information on how to choose, prepare and pay for a college education. We give parents the information and tools to help guide their child through the often complicated steps of preparing and applying to college, a step-by-step overview of the process, and other resources that have more in-depth information.

The fact that there are over 50 million Latinos make the U.S. their home today, means that this population constitutes a vital demographic that can contribute positively to tomorrow's workforce, and educating children for college is one of the most important ways to strengthen our communities and the nation at large.