Essay: Creating a List of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)

Excelencia in Education has been tracking the growth of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (eHSIs), and Hispanic-Serving Institutions with Graduate Programs (gHSIs) for 20 years since the organization’s founding in 2004, and has released its analyses on these institutions annually.

The purpose of this essay is to provide a common definition and methodology for identifying HSIs that will result in better analysis and more accuracy. Using a common definition based on an established methodology will more accurately represent this group of institutions. As the Latino population continues to grow, so will the number of Latino college-bound students. The number and size of HSIs will also continue to grow and can play a critical role in enhancing Latino students' access to higher education throughout the United States.