Perspective | The case for Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunity meeting talent

Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not. We don’t always serve all of our communities equally well. HSIs ensure opportunity meets talent — strengthening America as a whole.

Diana Natalicio, former president, University of Texas at El Paso

In August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) decided not to defend the constitutionality of the federally legislated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) programs in response to a lawsuit by the Tennessee Attorney General. The July 25, 2025 letter to Speaker Mike Johnson states the government lacks any legitimate interest in differentiating among universities based on whether “a specified number of seats in each class” are occupied by “individuals from the preferred ethnic groups.”

However, as federal courts have noted, there is “nothing nefarious about (Congress’s) awareness of racial demographics” when designing programs to address disparities. The HSI programs are a strategic, competitive, capacity-building investment in the institutions that disproportionately educate America’s fastest-growing student population among all enrolled. Using data to direct resources to institutions where Latino students are concentrated, similar to directing resources to rural communities, is not race-based discrimination — it is pragmatic policy.

Further, the amount of federal funds allotted for competitive HSI grants are small relative to the transformational work invested for innovation that improve educational outcomes for all enrolled students, regardless of race. HSIs operate with fewer resources yet serve the fastest-growing segment of the college-age population. Supporting HSIs is therefore a strategic investment in America’s competitiveness, democracy, and shared prosperity. 

Ending HSI support would not erase racial disparities; it would ignore them and weaken the nation’s ability to develop the educated workforce and informed citizenry it needs.

The DOJ position not to defend the constitutionality of the HSI programs ignores three realities:

1. HSIs are about capacity, not quotas: HSI grants provide institutional support, not individual preference. These are grants to institutions — not scholarships to students. Further, an institution does not automatically receive funds because it has become an HSI; the grants are competitive. In fact, only about one-third of HSIs have ever been awarded a grant.

• HSIs use federal grants to modernize curriculum, innovate and expand student support services for today’s students, strengthen faculty development, and initiate workforce development programs that become institutionalized and can benefit all enrolled students, not any single group.
• The majority of HSIs are in states where race has not been allowed for use in admissions for years, such as California, Florida, Texas, and Washington. In fact, the majority of HSIs have open admissions, meaning there are no selection criteria; students only need to register.¹ Students are not admitted or denied based on race.
• Last year, HSIs enrolled 30% and graduated almost 32% of all undergraduates in the U.S. even though they represented only 20% of all colleges in the country. Further, while HSIs enrolled 65% of all Latinos, these institutions also enrolled 42% of all Asian, 24% of all Black, and 18% of all white undergraduates enrolled nationwide.

2. HSIs expand access and are proven drivers of mobility: The HSI programs fulfill a clear federal responsibility articulated in the Higher Education Act to expand opportunities for students across the country. HSIs also prepare many low-income first-generation students for meaningful careers with limited resources — a significant return on the federal investment.

• By federal definition, HSIs that receive competitive funds must enroll large shares of low-income students and operate with low educational costs, in addition to enrolling a high concentration of Hispanic students.²
• While highly resourced universities maintain endowments in the billions, about one-third of HSIs do not have endowments. Of HSIs with endowments, their endowments hold under $20 million, placing them among the least-resourced institutions in higher education.³
• HSIs represent more than one-third of the nation’s top institutions for economic mobility — reflecting a person’s ability to improve their economic status over the course of their lifetimes. Investment in HSIs’ capacity to provide access to a quality education disproportionately adds value to the country’s economy.

3. HSIs are about national need, not racial favoritism: Congress explicitly tied investment in HSIs to the national interest of closing education gaps that weaken our workforce and democracy. HSIs are in more than half of all states; they play a vital role in expanding access to higher education. Improving the capacity and quality of HSIs increases access to educational opportunity for millions of Americans of all backgrounds and closes education gaps to meet a national need.

• HSIs are based on geography and demography, not preferential treatment. HSIs reflect where Latino populations live and enroll. Students regularly attend a college near home, so HSIs emerged organically in growing Latino communities. They may also be the only educational option for those in certain locations. HSIs have evolved to provide access to opportunity for all who enroll in their changing community — many students are more likely to be low-income, first-generation, and attend under-resourced K-12 schools.
• Latinos are the fastest-growing college-age population and already make up 1 in 5 U.S. students in higher education, and 1 in 4 students in K-12 education.⁴ While Latino adults have made progress, they still have lower levels of degree attainment than the national average, a gap that undermines U.S. workforce competitiveness.

For more information about HSIs, please visit Excelencia’s website here.

---

This piece was first published by Excelencia in Education and is republished here with permission.

Footnotes

1. Excelencia in Education analysis of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2023 Fall Enrollment, Institutional Characteristics, Finance, and Student Financial Aid Surveys. ↩︎
2. Title V, Part A of Higher Education Act (HEA), as amended (20 U.S.C. 1101–1101d; 1103–1103g) ↩︎
3. Excelencia in Education analysis of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2023 Fall Enrollment, Institutional Characteristics, Finance, and Student Financial Aid Surveys. ↩︎
4. Excelencia in Education analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. ↩︎