PHILADELPHIA – For some Hispanic students, complete the application process at universities can be doubly troublesome: they are required to balance the tasks of the secondary essays and interviews, and then translate everything for her parents who do not speak English.

Some universities venerable East Coast trying to alleviate that burden and attract a growing number of Hispanic students “by offering Spanish translations of their material on admissions and financial aid.

The Bryn Mawr College, an establishment elite liberal arts near Philadelphia, recently launched a Spanish version of its Web site and the prestigious University of Pennsylvania has begun to conduct some sessions in Spanish admission.

“These initiatives are really geared for families … to subtract some of the pressure on students,” said Jennifer Rickard, director of enrollment at Bryn Mawr.

The comfort level of the family is extremely important in the Hispanic community, where ties with parents are strong and where many feel uneasy with the idea of sending their children to a distant college, said Deborah Santiago, vice president for policy and Research Excellence in Education, based in Washington DC.

“Parents play a critical role at least in educational aspirations,” said Santiago. “My parents have not gone to college, but I said I would.”

Nationally, only 25% of Hispanics aged 18 to 24 years were in college in 2006. The figure is less than 32% of blacks, 44% of whites and 61% of Asian Americans, according to a report by the American Council on Education, but the same report found that Hispanic enrollment rose college 66% between 1995 and 2005.

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