04/17/2025
As America’s Hispanic population has grown, so has competition for funding among colleges and universities with large numbers of Hispanic students. More than 600 higher education institutions are Hispanic-serving institutions — a formal designation from the U.S. Department of Education that allows them to vie for hundreds of millions of dollars a year in federal grants.
The U.S. government has, for decades, provided funding specifically for colleges and universities where a substantial proportion of students are racial or ethnic minorities. Many education researchers say these schools, known collectively as minority-serving institutions, play an important role in helping students of color get into and succeed in college.
“They account for some of the largest enrollments, degree completion, and positive labor market outcomes for students of color by serving as vehicles that enhance economic mobility for their graduates,” researchers at New York University and the American Council on Education write in a report released March 27.
Journalists should give attention to these schools as higher education institutions nationwide face increased scrutiny from the Trump administration, which is leveraging federal funding to try to force changes at both public and private colleges and universities.
A research-based explainer to help journalists cover Hispanic-serving institutions and the competition for higher education funding.
The Journalist’s Resource is a project of Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.
