Research and Policy
Since 2004, Excelencia has been the national leader in developing strategic research guided by the experiences and realities of today's Latino and other post-traditional students to inform action by community and institutional leaders and policy makers that facilitates institutional change for student success in higher education.
Excelencia uses a Latino lens to bring to the forefront what we know about Latino student success, what works to improve it, and what decision makers can do.
Excelencia in Education’s Policy Priorities: 2025
Now is a pivotal moment for our country, our students, and our institutions of higher education. Higher education remains a key driver of economic growth, civic engagement, and social mobility. For Latino students—and all students—to achieve economic prosperity, institutional, state, and federal policies must center on their realities: their needs, educational pathways, and contributions to the country’s workforce and economy.
Excelencia’s policy agenda advocates for accelerating Latino student success while increasing all student success to close gaps in degree attainment based on the current profile of Latinos in higher education. Four policy issues were continually raised among leading institutions committed to supporting Latino, and all, student success: 1) workforce, 2) institutional capacity, 3) college affordability, and 4) retention and transfer.
Applying a Latino lens to higher education policy and practice
Excelencia’s community understands and addresses contemporary higher education issues using a Latino lens. Read the latest perspectives on policies and practices impacting Latino, and all, student success from across the Excelencia network.
Research Library
Excelencia in Education accelerates Latino student success in higher education while increasing all student success by promoting Latino student achievement and informing educational policies with a Latino lens. Since the organization’s founding, Excelencia has been the leading information source on Latinos in higher education, making our research and policy priorities available for the public to inform and compel action on Latino enrollment, completion, and workforce nationally.
Find information on Latinos and education pathways, financial aid, institutional practices, student success, workforce, HSI related research, and more.
Refine your search of Excelencia’s research by using the filters on the right.
Post-Completion Success: How Leading HSIs Are Transforming Career Readiness
January 2026
As the Latino population grows, their educational and career success is critical to U.S. economic prosperity. College degrees boost earnings, job stability, and well-being—transforming futures for Latino students and families. This brief identifies three post-completion strategies from leading HSI institutions: preparing students beyond graduation, connecting them to workforce opportunities, and measuring post-completion outcomes.
Informing and Compelling Action: Advancing Post-Completion Success for Latino Students Fact Sheet
January 2026
As the Latino population grows, their educational and career success is increasingly tied to the nation’s economic prosperity. Despite current discourse that calls to question the value of higher education, research shows a college degree boosts lifetime earnings, job stability, and well-being. For Latino students, degrees transform families and communities—making strong college-to-career pathways essential to our future workforce and advancing economic mobility.
Reframing Accountability: Review of the Seal of Excelencia
December 2025
Accountability is key for institutions of higher education to assess their impact, inform continuous improvement, and demonstrate value to students, their families, and society. Yet, accountability is too often defined by compliance and standard outcome measures such as enrollment and graduation rates. Learn more in this brief about how the Seal of Excelencia expands the meaning of accountability beyond compliance toward intentionality and continuous improvement by integrating essential components of transformation into a comprehensive institutional strategy for serving students.
College Affordability: Insights and Solutions from Texas Students and Postsecondary Leaders
June 2025
Latino students in Texas make informed, pragmatic choices to afford college, often shaped by state policy and institutional practice. This brief highlights the experiences of students and administrators, offering insights for institutional leaders and policymakers to improve college affordability and support Latino, and all, student success in Texas and nationally.
Excelencia’s Policy Agenda
June 2025
Excelencia’s policy agenda advocates for accelerating Latino student success while increasing all student success to close gaps in degree attainment based on Excelencia’s most recent research and analysis of Latinos in higher education. Four policy issues were continually raised among leading institutions committed to supporting Latino, and all, student success: 1) workforce, 2) institutional capacity, 3) college affordability, and 4) retention and transfer.