By Kim Glovas

MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) — Delaware County Community College is hosting a daylong forum today on Latino students and the challenges they face in achieving a college edudation.

The conference, “Beyond Multiculturalism: Empowering Latino Students and the Community,” aims to provide institutional support for Latino students and provide alternative ideas for bankrolling a college education.   Organizers also hope to help those families with both documented and undocumented members.

“There are some Hispanic scholarship funds out there for people with no documentation,” notes Fernando Benavidez (far right in photo), who put together the event.  “That’s accessible money that’s apart from state and federal funds that are not accessible to those students at all.  But to be honest, students that I know that are going (to college), to DCCC for example — they work.”

He says other obstacles these families face include language barriers, because a parent may speak only Spanish and not have access to information on financial aid or the admissions process.

Benavidez says this is the first conference of its kind here, and he’s hoping it’s not the last.

Hear Kim Glovas’ extended interview with Fernando Benavidez in this CBS Philly podcast (runs 15:22)…