As Nation’s Economic Recovery Continues, Excelencia in Education Analysis Shows Institutions are Rethinking Efforts to Support Their Students Beyond Degree Completion

Contact: Media@EdExcelencia.org

New Brief Outlines Evolving Approaches to Better Understand Post-completion Success at Seven Hispanic-Serving Institutions

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2022) – A new report from Excelencia in Education reveals that as the nation continues to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, institutions intentionally focused on serving their students see an opportunity to rethink their efforts to support Latino, and all, students beyond degree completion.

The brief, “Beyond Completion: Post-completion Efforts at Hispanic-Serving Institutions,” available for free download here, was released today by Excelencia in Education, the nation’s premier authority on accelerating Latino student success in higher education. It informs that post-completion success for Latino students is a conscious campus-based conversation that is gaining traction and support in a growing number of institutions.

As institutions continue to make progress on Latino enrollment and completion, Latino representation within the workforce is expected to increase by 3% every year. As a result of these changes, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are expanding their scope of Latino student success and taking active steps to create learning experiences that promote workforce preparation and foster Latino post-completion success.

For this analysis, Excelencia in Education collaborated with seven HSIs to examine post-completion success efforts:

1. Austin Community College
2. California State University-Fullerton
3. Long Beach City College
4. Texas State University
5. University of Arizona
6. University of Illinois Chicago
7. Wilbur Wright College

These HSIs are progressing beyond completion to meet the needs of the nation’s economy by developing strategies and practices that more intentionally serve Latino degree completers. Excelencia identified three strengths that demonstrate the cohort’s efforts to advance post-completion success from intention to serve Latino completers:

• Offering culturally relevant institutional practices accelerating Latino post-completion success.
• Providing custom measures and metrics to track post-completion success outcomes.
• Demonstrating progress in closing the equity gaps of post-completion success outcomes for Latino completers.

Deborah A. Santiago, Excelencia’s Co-founder and CEO, said, “Our data points to the need to demonstrate intentionality and impact in serving our students. For years we have said that institutions must shift from simply enrolling Latino students to serving them with intentionality. This is why. These seven institutions are evolving and having impact because of their focused intent, and it benefits all of their students.

“The institutions we are privileged to work with can articulate their role in educating low-income, first-generation, and students of color and they know their work does not end with graduation,” Santiago added. “A quality education is part of a student’s journey to a job and career. The seven institutions we worked with for this brief accepted the challenge to examine their data, practices, and leadership efforts to define the institutional role post-completion. They are committed to being intentional in their post-completion role to support Latino and other post-traditional students.”

In the past, Excelencia has advocated that the economic recovery from the pandemic and calls for equity in education underscore the need to increase the number of doctors, engineers, educators, and other professionals that must come from the young and growing Latino population in order to meet national needs for future civic leadership and the workforce.

About Excelencia in Education
Excelencia in Education accelerates Latino student success in higher education by promoting Latino student achievement, conducting analysis to inform educational policies, and advancing institutional practices while collaborating with those committed and ready to meet the mission. Launched in 2004 in the nation’s capital, Excelencia has established a network of results-oriented educators and policymakers to address the U.S. economy’s needs for a highly educated workforce and engaged civic leaders. For more information, visit: EdExcelencia.org 

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