福利小视频

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) across the country were recognized recently by a  from President Biden, during National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week and just before the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

The proclamation is fueling new energy by college leaders to press for more support and recognition for the nation’s more than 500 HSIs. Congressional appropriations for HSIs  from $42,250,000 in 2000 to $350,641,000 in 2024, and the Biden Administration requested $376,000,000 for the institutions in FY2025.

That increase corresponds to a rise in the prominence of HSIs and Emerging HSIs. According to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), the has more than tripled in the last three decades.

The  to recognize colleges and universities that enrolled substantial percentage of Hispanic students and were designed so that “Hispanic students have an equal opportunity to pursue postsecondary opportunities.” The federal requirement for being designated an HSI is that at least 25% of an institution’s full-time undergraduates are Hispanic. Emerging HSIs are institutions where 15-24% of undergraduates are Hispanic or Latino.

Although HACU’s more than 500 member institutions represent only 17% of all higher education institutions nationwide, combined they are home to two-thirds of all Hispanic college students and they enroll 31.7% of all undergraduate students in nonprofit postsecondary education.

HSIs have faced persistent underfunding relative to other degree-granting institutions even though they educate a disproportionate number of low-income students. According to HACU, HSIs only receive on average 74 cents for every federal dollar that goes to all other colleges and universities annually. HSIs began receiving their initial federal appropriations in 1995.

Now, Biden’s proclamation is stirring hope that HSIs might become a stronger priority for federal funding, particularly if Kamala Harris wins the upcoming presidential election. Describing HSIs as “engines of opportunity, success, and upward mobility,” Biden says his “administration is committed to giving HSIs the resources they need to support the students they serve.”

As an example of advocates who see the need and opportunity for expanded HSI support, Armando Valdez, President of Colorado State University 福利小视频, recently told me institutions like his (CSU 福利小视频 is the second oldest four-year HSI in the state) require more funding to do their jobs well, but they also need for public policy makers to champion the philosophy of HSIs.

“Not only do HSIs enroll a significant percentage of Hispanic and Latinos students, we educate large numbers of other traditionally underrepresented students, including first-generation-to-college students and those from low-income backgrounds,” Valdez said. At CSU 福利小视频, for example, of its approximately 4,000 students, 36% are Hispanic or Latino, and 16% are students from other racial minority groups.

“Our institution is committed to being a diverse community in our composition, our beliefs, and our dialogue. Students come here because they are choosing that kind of campus for their education, one where they will embrace and be challenged by differences and where they will be prepared to thrive in increasingly diverse communities after they finish college” Valdez added.

Prior to becoming CSU 福利小视频’s president late last year, Valdez served as chair of the Colorado State University System Board of Governors. He believes that HSIs can learn from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) about the importance of developing and following a mission strongly committed to addressing the educational needs of minority students that have too often been left behind. “We need to develop that kind of mission focus and embrace it.” he said.

Embracing that kind of mission is not like “flipping a light switch,” according to Valdez. “It’s complex and multi-layered, and it requires colleges to shift their attention from merely enrolling more minority students to focusing their own resources on serving them better and mentoring other institutions to do the same,” he said.

Today, the  in the United States tops 60 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This makes up 18.9% of the total population and represents the nation’s largest racial or ethnic group. The need for HSIs to receive adequate, equitable investments has never been greater, and neither has the opportunity for these institutions to show the way for how to close the real opportunity and outcome gaps that continue to confound higher education.