Hispanic populations are the second-fastest growing demographic in the United States, surpassed only by immigrants from Asia. While there has been a decline in the overall number of immigrants arriving from Latin America—and particularly Mexico—in recent years, Hispanic communities have put down deep roots in the United States.
Increasing numbers of Hispanic students are attending colleges or universities in the U.S. Some 29 percent of public nursery school students are Hispanic, suggesting that, in less than a generation, colleges and university enrollments may be close to a third Hispanic. Already, the number of Hispanic recent high school graduates enrolling in college has surpassed White recent graduates, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Report, using data from 2012.
This suggests that Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) will be increasingly important in years ahead. HSIs, which have been recognized by the federal government since 1992, are defined as any not-for-profit institution serving a student population that is at least 25 percent Hispanic. There are 409 HSIs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and demographic shifts indicate that there will be more, even by next year.
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), which represents and promotes the interests of HSIs, convened its annual Capitol Forum in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. Representatives of HACU member institutions have convened at the Capitol each spring for the past 20 years to meet with legislators.
This year, the stakes are higher than usual because the Higher Education Act (HEA) is up for reauthorization. GOP lawmakers have already made a number of hints and suggestions about what their version of the HEA would look like.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee came out with three white papers on Monday. Although they are not specific policy recommendations, they give a sense of where priorities lie for the new HELP committee.
One paper looked at reforming and overhauling accreditation. Another, focusing on consumer information, toyed with the idea of creating a federal student-unit record database. Finally, the paper on risk-sharing suggested that institutions might be required to pay back some of students’ defaulted loans to the Department of Education and otherwise sanction institutions where large numbers of students and graduates default on their loans. The risk-sharing proposals did not specifically exclude community colleges or historically Black colleges and universities.
