Excelencia Policy Agenda - Institutional Practices

Excelencia’s Policy Agenda: Institutional Capacity

Excelencia in Education

November 2020

Overview

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Institutions enrolling Latino students are critical to Excelencia in Education’s mission of accelerating Latino student success, including Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). While only 17% of higher education institutions are HSIs, they enroll 67% of all Latino undergraduates.Institutions, including HSIs, serving students with the highest need and are often some of the most under-resourced. The health pandemic has made clearer the inequities that exist for Latino students and the institutions that enroll them. Now, policy should focus on addressing these inequities by strengthening the capacity of these institutions to improve Latino students’ access and completion in higher education.

What can be done to support institutions’ capacity building efforts?

Hispanic-Serving Institutions enroll the overwhelming majority of Latino students, yet are low-resourced and face further budget cuts in the midst of an economic recession. The following recommendations would improve these institutions’ capacity to serve Latino students:

Prioritize and significantly increase financial support to institutions serving high numbers of students with financial need and count every student instead of using full-time equivalent.
Provide guaranteed funding to all Hispanic-Serving Institutions who meet the eligibility requirements for Title V grants.
Refocus and limit the allowable activities for Title III and V grants to better align with Latino student success and in an online environment.
Improve information about federal investment in Hispanic-Serving Institutions by increasing transparency around grant outcomes.