AANAPISIs Have Supported AAPI Students for 15 Years

Ariana Ahmed, student body president at Hunter College.When Ariana Ahmed began touring colleges in upstate New York, she was looking for a sense of community, for people who shared her experience as a first-generation, South Asian child of immigrants living in Queens. She found it in nearby Manhattan at Hunter College (HC).

HC runs a program designed to enhance and support the academic experiences of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) students on campus, funded through a federal Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) grant. The program, the Hunter College AANAPISI Project (HCAP), helped Ahmed find belonging on her campus.

“AANAPISI programs have received the funding and incentive to host student ideas and projects,” said Ahmed. She eventually hosted her own HCAP event to discuss AAPI queerness. As Ahmed’s confidence grew, and she eventually became student body president.

“When you come to a school as big as Hunter, it’s easy to feel scattered. You see community, but don’t have the means of connection,” said Ahmed. “HCAP is a bridging factor. It gives students a reason to stay on campus and build a community they might have missed at other institutions that are not geared towards AAPI students.”

This week is the 15th anniversary of the creation of the AANAPISI federal designation. Eligible institutions qualify if they enroll a student population of at least 10% AAPI students, and 50% of more of the overall student body qualifies for financial assistance like the Pell Grant. Asian & Pacific Islander American (APIA) Scholars, a nonprofit AAPI scholarship provider, gathered experts together to celebrate how AANAPISI grant programs have instilled a sense of belonging in students like Ahmed, helping them grow in their identities and reach their educational potential.

But, the scholars said, AANAPISIs still lack the funding needed to make even more of an impact, with just around $75,000 available per eligible institution. Further, access to AANAPISI grants can be complicated when institutions qualify as more than one federally designated Minority Serving Institution (MSI).

Dr. Robert A. Underwood, former president of the University of Guam.“AAPI communities are the fastest growing communities in the U.S. This tells us that AANAPISIs not only have to be funded more, they have to be increased exponentially,” said Dr. Robert A. Underwood, former president of the University of Guam and one of the leaders who pushed for recognition of AAPI student struggles in the late 1990s.