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The Journey-a road with a gps with an institution at the start of the road looking ahead

The Journey to Intentionally Serve Latino Students

Trendsetting colleges and universities across the country are on the journey to more intentionally SERVE Latino students in partnership with Excelencia in Education. By identifying opportunities to do things differently and investing in transformation on their campuses, they are becoming places where Latino, and all, students thrive.

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As a trusted partner, facilitator, and guide, Excelencia meets institutions where they are on their journeys to increase Latino student success with intentionality and impact. We leverage over 20 years of experience listening to, learning from, and working with colleges and universities to empower those in our network to expand awareness of who they serve, conduct analysis of what works, and take action that ensures their students are served well.

Outcomes from the Journey

Excelencia sees colleges and universities through the milestones of the journey to more intentionally serve Latino students. Specifically, we support institutions to:

  • Advance a mindset and culture among campus leadership of increasing institutional capacity to more intentionally SERVE Latino, and all, students.

  • Improve enrollment, retention, and completion rates for Latino, and all, students.

  • Improve data collection methods to better analyze students’ current and future needs.

  • Galvanize systemic change efforts across institutions by cultivating champions that enhance intentionality in serving Latino students within institutions and broadly.

  • Build sustaining relationships within and across institutions, as part of Excelencia’s approach to creating a community of common cause.

  • Support institutional strategic planning by increasing understanding of the Seal of Excelencia framework, which integrates essential components of data, practice, and leadership.

Institutions on the Journey

Excelencia’s national network of more than 190 Presidents for Latino Student Success, comprises higher education leaders committed to making their institutions learning environments where Latino, and all, students thrive. This network represents just 6% of colleges and universities in the country yet enrolls 33% and graduates 35% of all Latino students nationwide.

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Affiliation with the network affirms commitment to increasing Latino student success, and institutions have unique opportunities to go further by participating in Excelencia’s collaborative learning and support.

Evidence-Based Practices on the Journey

For 20 years, Excelencia has brought attention to noteworthy efforts to increase Latino student success in higher education, inspiring educators, community leaders, funders, and policymakers to bring to scale evidence-based practices. Essential to this work is Examples of Excelencia, the only national, data-driven initiative to identify and promote what works for Latino students.

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Institutions on the journey have the opportunity to share programs on their campus with evidence of effectiveness in serving Latino students. We equip program leaders to measure their impact with our Examples of Excelencia Program Profile Submission Guide, and to connect with other program leaders through our Growing What Works Database.

Resources on the Journey

Excelencia’s robust technical assistance strategy informs institutional efforts to advance awareness, analysis, and action — important steps on the journey to more intentionally serve Latino students.

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Intentionally serving students begins with self-assessment, which Excelencia facilitates through the Seal Serving Institutional Transformation Assessment (SSITA), a tool and cohort-based experience for institutions to assess who they serve with a Latino lens. From there, Excelencia’s Technical Assistance Institutes offer curated content and community building that support institutional teams as they learn, share, and implement strategies to align student success efforts across data, practice, and leadership.

Meet the 61 institutions partnering with Excelencia to elevate their commitment to Latino student success in 2024:

Arizona

  • Arizona State University

  • Pima Community College

  • Scottsdale Community College

 

California

  • Berkeley City College

  • California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

  • California State University Channel Islands

  • California State University, Fresno

  • California State University, Fullerton

  • California State University, Long Beach

  • California State University, Northridge

  • California State University, San Bernardino

  • Glendale Community College

  • Long Beach City College

  • Loyola Marymount University

  • San Francisco State University

  • University of California, Davis

  • University of California, Merced

  • University of California, Santa Cruz

 

Florida

  • Florida International University

  • Miami Dade College

 

Georgia

  • Dalton State College

 

Illinois

  • City Colleges of Chicago, Richard J. Daley College

  • City Colleges of Chicago, Wilbur Wright College

  • College of Lake County

  • Northern Illinois University

  • University of Illinois Chicago

 

Indiana

  • Purdue University Northwest

 

Massachusetts

  • Holyoke Community College

  • Salem State University

 

Michigan

  • Grand Valley State University

  • Western Michigan University

 

New Jersey

  • Fairleigh Dickinson University

  • Montclair State University

  • UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ

 

Nevada

  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas

 

New York

  • Mercy University

  • State University of New York at Oneonta

  • University at Albany – State University of New York

 

Oregon

  • Columbia Gorge Community College

 

Pennsylvania

  • Lehigh Carbon Community College

 

Texas

  • Austin Community College District

  • El Paso Community College

  • Laredo College

  • Lone Star College-University Park 

  • Northwest Vista College

  • San Antonio College

  • South Texas College

  • Southwestern Adventist University

  • St. Edward's University

  • St. Mary's University in San Antonio

  • Sul Ross State University

  • Texas A&M University-Kingsville

  • Texas Tech University

  • The University of Texas at Arlington

  • The University of Texas at Austin

  • The University of Texas at Dallas

  • The University of Texas at San Antonio

  • The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  • University of Houston-Downtown

 

Washington

  • Bellevue College

 

Wisconsin

  • Gateway Technical College

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