Hispanic-Serving Institutions
A primer on Hispanic-Serving Institutions, what they are, who they serve, and the related federal grant program.
In the early 1980s, a series of congressional hearings on Latino access to higher education focused on two themes: Latino students lacked access to higher education and many who began degree programs did not complete them, and Latinos were concentrated at institutions of higher education that received limited financial support from the federal or state governments.
After continued advocacy and increased awareness regarding exponential growth in the Latino population (a 246% increase between the 1980 and 2010 U.S. censuses),i a new designation of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in Title III’s Strengthening Institutions Program was created in 1992. Recognizing the importance of serving the country’s rapidly growing Hispanic community, members of Congress created the designation for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to expand educational opportunities for Hispanic students while improving their measures of academic attainment.
The first HSI appropriations were distributed in 1995, and in 1998 HSIs were moved from Title III of the Higher Education Act to their own title, Title V. Title V has two parts: Part A, which consists of the HSI program and Part B, which assists in expanding post-baccalaureate educational opportunities for Hispanic students.
