Seeking to address a gap in knowledge about Hispanic-serving colleges nationwide, a leading research group on Tuesday launched a virtual data center to provide key information about these institutions as well as promising practices in serving Latino students.
The Hispanic-Serving Institutions Center for Policy and Practice, or HSI-CP², will provide researchers, university leaders and the general public with accessible information on Latinos in higher education, said leaders at Excelencia in Education, a Washington, D.C., organization that unveiled the project.
“Until today, there has been no central location to access research on HSIs to inform public policy, future research and effective practice for Latino student success,” said Sarita Brown, the organization’s president.
While HSIs represent only 11 percent of all higher education institutions nationwide, they enroll more than 60 percent of Latino students in college.
At a briefing in Washington, D.C., organizers noted that there is a need for a central online resource on these institutions even though the federal grant program for HSIs is nearly 20 years old.
“Too often the conversation stops at access to higher education,” said Deborah Santiago, vice president for policy at Excelencia in Education. This new site will provide data, graphics and detailed information on promising programs, not only at HSIs, but at other institutions with effective policies and programs that drive Latino student success.
The U.S. had 370 HSIs in 2013, using a framework that identified all colleges where Hispanic students represent at least 25 percent of full-time equivalent undergraduate students. These Hispanic-serving colleges are based in 15 states, led by California with 127. State-by-state profiles are another key ingredient of the online center.
