Hispanic-Serving Institutions Make Impressive Strides

Black Issues in Higher Education, Sept 28, 2000 by Charles Dervarics

While HSIs likely will see more direct funds in 2001, there also is the prospect of more funds through new proposals to promote college retention. President Clinton has proposed $40 million for college completion grants, in which grantees would offer support services as well as additional grant funding for needy students. Another proposal would allow HSIs and Black colleges to work with other institutions to design "dual-degree" programs that may extend from baccalaureate education through graduate school.

Congress already is on record supporting the college completion grants, funded through the popular federal TRIO funding. The next challenge may be to get more HSIs into TRIO programs, since Hispanic-serving institutions traditionally are under-represented in these programs, Flores says. Moreover, in awarding new funds, TRIO regulators give a competitive advantage to existing grantees. "We have to make sure HSIs are better represented in TRIO," he adds.

Finally, the presidential election is giving HSIs some new visibility. Bush recently made funding recommendations for Hispanic colleges and other minority-serving institutions. For HSIs, his plan would propose an extra $166 million over five years (see Black Issues, Sept. 14). Both Bush and Gore have proposed more money for Pell grants, while Gore also has given a high priority to new college tax credits.

"Financial aid is a critical factor," according to Flores, who welcomes these proposals. Yet despite this progress, the HACU leader also calls for broader reforms to educate Hispanic adults and reform primary and secondary education, particularly to help youth get on course for college. Improvements in these areas also may result from the groundwork established in 2000. "We need to have a level playing field," he says.

College Enrollment Rates of 18- to 24-Year-Olds by Race/Ethnicity, 1980-1997 (by percentage)

       Whites   Blacks   Hispanics

1980     25       19        16
1982     27       20        17
1984     28       20        18
1986     29       22        18
1988     31       21        17
1990     33       25        16
1992     37       25        21
1994     38       28        19
1996     40       27        20
1997     41       30        22

SOURCE: DIGEST OF EDUCATION STATISTICS, 1998

Hispanic-Serving Institutions

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities is a national association representing Hispanic-serving institutions. HACU works to promote nonprofit, accredited colleges and universities where Hispanics constitute a minimum of 25 percent of the enrollment at either the graduate or undergraduate level, in accordance with the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which for the first time formally recognized HSIs.

In August 2000, HACU had 151 member HSIs located in 10 states and Puerto Rico