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.
Black + Brown: Institutions of Higher Education
September 2014
This brief examines the profiles of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Representing a small percentage of all institutions of higher education, HBCUs and HSIs enroll a large portion of all African American and Hispanic students, giving them an important role in educating the country’s future workforce.
The Impact of Financial Aid on Student College Access and Success: The San Antonio Experience
March 2014
The Impact of Financial Aid on Student College Access and Success: The San Antonio Experience is co-authored by two community leaders, Noé C. Ortiz and Eyra A. Pérez. Commissioned by Excelencia in Education to inform - the San Antonio case demonstrates how a community can partner across different sectors and institutions to remove financial aid as a barrier for students to access postsecondary education.
Supporting Latino Community College Students: An Investment in Our Economic Future
June 2013
Most Latino students who enroll in college begin at community colleges. This paper highlights how Excelencia in Education, Single Stop USA, and innovative community colleges across the country are making smart changes in their student services that are helping thousands of Latino students access millions of dollars in supports and services that can help keep them in college.
Reality Check: Hispanic-Serving Institutions on the Texas Border Strategizing Financial Aid
January 2011
This brief examines financial aid strategies aimed at increasing enrollment, academic success and degree completion at eight Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) located along the U.S.-Mexico border serving low-income communities. These institutions rank among the top institutions, both statewide and nationally, in enrolling and graduating Latino students.