WASHINGTON — Among the 153 U.S. colleges and universities eligible to become federally designated as Asian-American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), only 78 of those schools have sought and been granted the distinction since 2008, when the federal program was launched. Of the 78, just 21 schools have received AANAPISI program funding, which is aimed at improving the retention, transfer and graduation rates of underserved Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students.
In a study released Tuesday by the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) and the National Commission on Asian-American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE), the authors explore “baseline data on the federal AANAPISI program to reveal the regional and institutional representation of these colleges and universities along with their student enrollment and degree production,” according to the collaborating organizations.
The study is titled “Partnership for Equity in Education through Research (PEER): Findings from the First Year of Research on AANAPISIs,” and its release coincided with APIASF’s 2013 Higher Education Summit in Washington. With the theme, “Moving Forward: Engaging the Changing Face of America,” the summit drew students, faculty members and college administrators to attend presentations and panel discussions. Neil Horikoshi, the APIASF president and executive director, noted that the organization is celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
APIASF has raised more than $60 million in scholarship funds for underserved Asian-American and Pacific Islander students, he said. Horikoshi explained that similar to scholarship organizations, such as the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, APIASF has undertaken efforts to help study and help direct assistance to a particular segment of minority-serving institutions.
“I am particularly proud to be in collaboration with Professor Robert Teranishi (and) his entire and wonderful National Commission on Asian-American and Pacific Islander Research in Education team as we begin to present the first finding ever of the Partnership for Equity in Education in Research, also known as the PEER project,” Horikoshi told summit participants.
Teranishi, the CARE principal investigator and associate professor of higher education at New York University, said the baseline data included in the study should enable readers “to get a sense of what institutions are eligible, designated and funded,” and “it gives the demographic profile of the AANAPISI program.”