In the United States, there has been recent attention to mergers involving higher education institutions. The fact is that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are not a novel topic but more common in business. The paper will present the findings of a case study of the merger of two Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Texas and how leadership…

This article utilizes critical race theory counterstorytelling to tell a story about ¡Poder Xicanx!, a Mexican-based student organization at a private, predominantly white university in the Northeast of the United States. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant observations, "pla´ticas," and document analysis, I document the…

STEM education has created successful educational outcomes and job opportunities in the United States. Despite the benefits to STEM education, Latinx students have a low STEM degree completion and are considered underrepresented. As a result, institutions are focusing on providing equal opportunities and increasing retention rates to minorities.…

Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) continue to transform U.S. higher education, causing scholars and practitioners to question how institutional agents serve minoritized communities, including Latinx/a/o people. Guided by Garcia et al.'s (2019) multidimensional framework on servingness, together with Garcia and Cuellar's (2023) concept of…

This study investigated how implicit racial bias influences the perceptions of students of African descent in predominately White colleges (PWIs) in the United States (U.S.). The theoretical framework for the study is critical race theory (CRT). CRT challenges racial indifference by exposing how racial advances often come at the cost of promoting…

This qualitative study sheds light on students' lived experiences regarding Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) at Borderlands University (BU), a Hispanic-serving institution on the U.S.-Mexico border where First Peoples lived for thousands of years. This study supports Indigenous students whose dismal national college graduation rates…

What do we mean when we say that a text is relevant to a young person or to a group of young people? And how might a reimagining of relevance, shaped through the voices of young men of color, enhance literacy teaching and learning? Based on case studies of six young Black, Latino, and South Asian men and their reading experiences, this book…

Higher education students are attending online classes more now than ever in history. Many institutions have temporarily converted their traditional face-to-face to online classroom settings. This raises many challenges as it relates to having to rely on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). A virtual learning survey was sent out to all First…

Higher education scholarship has underscored how contextual influences within and outside institutional settings influence students' developmental journeys. A subset of research has examined how Latinx/a/o students broach questions of identity while in college and how families inform their development. Yet, little scholarship has investigated how…

College students at a large south Texas university have proven consistently that they have a higher-than-average Body Mass Index (BMI), spend less time per week engaged in physical activity, and in general feel that they are less healthy than students in a national cross-sectional survey of college students by the American College Health…

The aim of this dissertation is to understand the impact of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) students have while attending higher education. In 2012, President Barack Obama signed DACA that allowed eligible undocumented students residing in any of the 50 states the ability to qualify for in-state tuition at public institutions.…

The purpose of this study was to retroactively explore how Latinx undocumented students currently enrolled at a single University of California (UC) campus navigated policies concerning accessibility and affordability as they worked toward their goal of pursuing bachelor's degrees. Using a critical race theory (CRT) and Latino/a critical race…

Beyond the basic criteria to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), which includes enrolling 25% Latinx students, the federal government has not established guidelines for better serving these students. Instead, educators at HSIs must submit applications for competitive federal grants that allow them to define and enact…

This article highlights the role of community among Latina/o/x students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at 2- and 4-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI). Community-based perspectives are often missing from traditional STEM disciplinary contexts; however, our Community-Centered STEM Identity model…

Emerging adulthood is a critical life stage when participation in higher education can facilitate the transition of young individuals into adulthood and independence. The barriers associated with low health literacy levels are higher among racial or ethnic groups facing health inequalities, including those enrolled in higher education…