The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact businesses, schools and daily life in a number of ways.
It has also further exposed inequities that existed in society, given that a disproportionately high percentage of deaths related to COVID-19 in the U.S. have occurred among minority populations. According to age-adjusted statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding COVID-19 deaths by race and unweighted population distributions by race in the U.S., Hispanics make up 19.4% of the population but 39.7% of the individuals who have died from COVID-19 were Hispanic.
Excelencia in Education, an education consulting organization, released a report highlighting the impact of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act on Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) titled, “Federal Support for Hispanic-Serving Institutions During Covid-19: Analysis and Recommendations.”
To be considered an HSI, enrollment of undergraduate, full-time equivalent (FTE) Hispanic students must be at least 25%, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In 2018-19, 539 institutions met the qualifications of an HSI.
To be eligible for a Title V grant, an HSI must have “high enrollment of needy students,” “low core expenses” and apply to the United States Department of Education. Over 100 institutions who qualified as an HSI were left out of the funding allocation while some non-HSIs received aid, according to Excelencia’s report.
Under the minority-serving institutions (MSIs) section of the CARES Act, $1 billion was set aside for MSIs that are eligible for Title III and V grants. Despite HSIs making up half of all MSIs, only $210 million, or 21%, of the funding was received, the research found.
The HEROES Act also set aside $1.7 billion for MSIs, of which $405 million was allocated to HSIs. However, to qualify for additional funding, HSIs must submit an application form demonstrating financial need and can only apply through one minority-serving designation, according to the analysis.
