Essay: Creating a List of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
Excelencia in Education
April 2025

Overview
Excelencia in Education has been tracking the growth of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (eHSIs), and Hispanic-Serving Institutions with Graduate Programs (gHSIs) for over 20 years and has released its analyses on these institutions annually.
The purpose of this essay is to provide a common definition and methodology for identifying HSIs that will result in better, more accurate analysis. Using a common definition based on an established methodology will more accurately represent this group of institutions. As the Latino population continues to grow, so will the number of Latino college-bound students. The number and size of HSIs will also continue to grow and will play a critical role in enhancing Latino students' access to higher education throughout the United States.