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New grants to assist Hispanic students at schools with large ethnic populations
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This summer an award of $25.8 million to fund 76 new grants to Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) was announced by U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley. HSIs are universities or colleges in which Hispanics total 25 percent or more of the student population and at least half of those students are low-income. About 195 two-and four-year colleges and universities are designated as HSIs and approximately 40 percent of Hispanic undergraduates are enrolled in these schools.
These grants will go for the improvement of facilities, academic programs and student services. Another $16.3 million will support continuation awards to 39 additional HSIs.
“The goal is to increase the graduation rates of Hispanics,” Riley noted in his speech at the awards ceremony. ” These grants will enable colleges that serve large numbers of Hispanic and disadvantaged students to offer an enriched academic experience.”
Similarly, Riley indicated how the role of HSIs will become increasingly important as the trend of Hispanic enrollment in higher education continues its increase over 50 percent in the last six years (from 782,000 in 1990 to about 1.3 million in 1999). HSIs confer more than 50 percent of bachelor degrees and 45 percent of associate degrees to Hispanics as well as provide access to a large number of other disadvantaged students.
Funded under the Title V of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, the programs aim to enhance the academic offerings and program quality in most HSIs. Other five-year development grants will implement specific programs to improve students’ academic success including purchasing books, scientific and laboratory equipment and telecommunications materials. Other approaches would be establishing community outreach programs with local secondary and elementary schools, as well as supporting fellowships, exchanges and other faculty development programs.
Specifically, Los Angeles Southwest College is using their $377,741 grant to strengthen vital student support systems services like orientation, academics and financial aid counseling in order to promote students’ success. Part of this grant will be used to set up a computer-assisted instruction lab to complement classroom instruction and provide greater access to technology.
In Las Vegas at New Mexico Highlands University (the oldest HSI in the United States), a grant of $383,500 will be used to increase on-line academic course offerings via distance learning. This will enable homebound, rural or otherwise isolated students who may not have access to the traditional on-campus experience to join the educational system.
By providing these grants to HSIs, the government is beginning to meet the educational needs of the burgeoning Hispanic college-going population. By the year 2050, census projections indicate that nearly one-quarter of the U.S. population will be Hispanic.
Vice President Al Gore said during a White House National Discussion on Hispanic Education, “This program is part of a larger, overall effort to increase the achievement of Hispanic students at all levels of education, from preschool through college. Education can open a new world of opportunity for Hispanics and other minorities, and this administration is committed, through this program and others like it, to help those dreams become a reality. We must reduce the Hispanic dropout rate in America. And I will not rest until we do.”
In the fiscal year 2001, the administration has requested that $62.5 million for Title V go toward serving a greater number of Hispanic students attending HSIs.