An Examination of Existing and Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions’ Latino Initiatives and Culture

Despite the fact that Latinos comprise the largest minority group in the United States and one of the nation’s fastest-growing populations, they tend to cluster in relatively isolated pockets within certain states, counties, and large metropolitan cities around the country (Brown & Lopez, 2013). This pattern persists as Latinos make their way into higher education. Indeed 59% of all Hispanics enrolled in U.S. colleges attend Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) (Santiago, 2013). This report examines two small samples of institutions that fall on either end of the spectrum of institutions that serve large populations of Latino students: HSIs with at least 60% Latino enrollments, and schools designated as Emerging HSIs, which have Latino enrollments ranging from 15% to 24%. The authors ask how these institutions may be serving or under-serving their students.