Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) are defined as 2- and 4-year public and private not-for-profit higher education institutions where students of Latino/a descent make up 25% or more of undergraduate full-time equivalent students. (Full-time equivalency accounts for full-time and part-time students.) The U.S. Congress created the designation of HSIs in the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. HSIs are eligible for federal funding authorized by the Higher Education Act for minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

Unlike historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) or tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), which are defined on the basis of missions to address the needs of their respective demographic populations, HSIs are defined solely by the share of Latino/a enrollment in their institutions. As of 2018, HSIs enrolled over 60% of Latino/a students enrolled ...