Definitions
A Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) is more than a Hispanic-enrolling one. While there are many ways a campus can be Hispanic-serving, an HSI is one that creates equity for, and advances the success of, all students, yet is intentional about its Hispanic/Latino students who represent a notable proportion of the student body.
Under federal law (Higher Education Opportunity Act, Title V, 2008), an HSI is defined as accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education with 25%, or more, total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment.
Additional criteria exist for federal Title III and Title V HSI grant programs.
HSIs by the Numbers
According to Excelencia in Education, a nationally recognized and trusted resource on accelerating Latino student success in higher education, reports that in 2020-2021, there were 559 institutions in 29 U.S. states and Puerto Rico that met the enrollment definition of HSI.
559 HSIs enrolled 66% of all Latino undergraduates and represented 18% of all institutions of higher education
31% of all HSIs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico are in the State of California
21 California State Universities (CSUs) are HSIs
Over 90% of the Calfornia Community Colleges are HSIs
Additionally, there were 393 "emerging" HSIs (eHSIs), defined as institutions with 15.0-24.9% undergraduate full-time equivalent Hispanic student enrollment.
For learn more HSI facts, please visit Excelencia's HSI research site.
