This article contributes to the study of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) through a narrative grounded on two points of innovation. It offers frameworks to decenter the conversation on HSIs from normative practices in higher education to focus on pedagogical, cultural, and political relational processes that find greater congruence between…

In this article, we describe the campus visit we organized for Latina girls (grades 6-12) that participated in Somos Escritoras/We Are Writers. Somos Escritoras is a creative space that invites Latina girls to explore their lives and examine their worlds through art, writing, and theater. We focus on the writing marathon we designed for our visit…

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the Texas "Closing the Gaps by 2015" plan to increase Hispanic enrollment into and graduation from institutions of higher education. This study uses Interrupted Time Series with Comparison Group to analyze 26 years of student cohorts in Texas universities. Controlling for…

Utah's population will become increasingly diverse in the coming decades. By 2065, the percent of minorities in Utah (age 18-35) will nearly double. There is already a postsecondary education enrollment and completion gap between minority populations and the white population at colleges and universities in the Utah System of Higher Education. If…

Latinos are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in postsecondary education. This factsheet provides a summary of how Latinos pay for college to better inform financial aid policy to ensure Latino college access, retention, and success. This summary includes Latino students' participation in federal student aid overall, Pell Grants,…

Universal approaches have not sufficiently improved higher education outcomes for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, and students from low-income backgrounds because these broad interventions are not targeted toward specific populations. Student voices and interests must be centered in policy and practice, and higher education leaders and…

Education is known as the great equalizer to many--it creates a supposed leveled field where students of all backgrounds have the opportunity to gain financial assets thus influencing their social status (Cafferty, 1985). Social constructions and inequalities such as poverty, race, assimilation, and housing segregation play a role in Latinx…

MDRC is working with the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office to study the state's efforts to improve college outcomes for Latinos--in particular, the approaches being taken at two-year and four-year colleges that qualify as Hispanic-Serving Institutions. This brief covers the first step in that project: a daylong conversation among…

The collective educational gains made by Latina/os since 1980 are not only noteworthy because they document the social transformation of a population but because they seemingly challenge what we know about contributing factors to student success. As a whole, Latina/o students are achieving higher levels of education despite their stagnant or…

Latinos are one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in the United States. Latino children account for one in four K-12 students and one in five college students in the United States. In 2016, a third of the over 57 million Latinos in the country were under 18 years of age. Latino students are also completing high school at a record…

This qualitative study examined the decision-making process of undocumented college students pursuing graduate degrees, and how their commitment to matriculate in higher education programs is shaped by a myriad of social, familial, financial, and institutional factors. This study drew on 2 years of ethnographic data from a sample of 20…

To support state efforts to close postsecondary attainment equity gaps for students of color, Research for Action (RFA) developed a framework that describes three drivers behind efforts to place racial equity at the center of postsecondary policymaking and practice: awareness, inclusion, and integration. The framework is adapted from Equity in the…

This is the technical appendices for the report, "Higher Education and Economic Opportunity in California." Lower rates of college access and completion among Latinos, African Americans, and low-income Californians exacerbate the state's economic divide and puts California further behind in meeting its workforce needs. And even though a…

Historically, the predominant narrative framing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) is that they are monolithic and underperforming, inscribed in a false dichotomy as "Hispanic-Serving" or merely "Hispanic-Enrolling" (Núñez, Hurtado, & Calderón Galdeano, 2015). Together, these narrative threads weave a deficit perspective…

For over thirty years, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has advocated on behalf of Hispanic higher education in the U.S. and around the world. The mission of the association is to Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education. HACU fulfills its mission by: promoting the development of member colleges and universities;…