Excelencia’s Policy Agenda

Overview

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.

Higher education must be a vehicle for economic mobility, not a hurdle. Excelencia in Education remains committed to advancing policy solutions that align institutional practices, public investments, and student realities to ensure Latino, and all, students can succeed.

Excelencia in Education leads a national network of results-oriented educators and policymakers to tap the talents of the Latino community and address the U.S. economy’s needs for a highly educated workforce and engaged civic leaders. Our policy priorities are grounded in the strengths and opportunities of our network, the Latino community, and evidence-based practices accelerating Latino student success. Our priority is access to excellence for Latino, and all, students.

Who is Excelencia in Education?

Excelencia in Education’s mission is to accelerate Latino student success in higher education by:

• Leadership: Organizing a network of institutions and leaders with the common cause of Latino student success to inform and compel action;

  - Excelencia’s leadership efforts include a network of over 205 postsecondary leaders, committed to Ensuring America’s Future by making our country stronger with the talents, skills, and contributions of Latino college graduates. In this network, 45 institutions are Seal-certified, going beyond enrollment to intentionally SERVE Latino students. Excelencia’s policy agenda focuses on scaling the work of these institutions in four priority areas.

• Data: Providing credible data-driven analysis on issues in higher education with a Latino lens; and

• Practice: Promoting higher education policies and institutional practices that support Latinos’ academic achievement and that of other post-traditional students.

Guiding Principles

The following frame is Excelencia’s approach to reassessing current federal policies using a Latino lens.

• Efficiency in serving traditional students today can limit effectiveness in serving a majority of students tomorrow (post-traditional students), and those students are increasingly Latino.

• Prioritizing access and success for first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students—especially Latinos—is important while we increase educational opportunities for all students.

• Institutions that have a concentration of Latinos must transform to intentionally serve the needs of the students they enroll.

Excelencia in Education’s Policy Priorities: 2025

Excelencia’s policy agenda advocates for accelerating Latino 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 student success: 1) workforce, 2) institutional capacity, 3) college affordability, and 4) retention and transfer.