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To overcome the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Latinos and ensure an equitable recovery, Congress and the Biden administration must step up support for the colleges that, by and large, serve this community: Hispanic-serving institutions, known as HSIs. Ideally, that would mean appropriating $1 billion a year for this group of more than 400 colleges and encouraging other funding measures that would equitably support Latinx students.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Latinx community has been disastrous. Not only are Latinx people more likely to contract, be hospitalized and die from COVID-19 than whites, but they are facing more economic inequality, especially among Latinas. Latinx workers made up larger shares of initial job loss than Black and white individuals, and their economic recovery has been slower. Latinas in particular are faring particularly poorly, accounting for a disproportionately high share of the overall job loss. Moreover, there are undocumented essential workers and many more domestic and migrant workers who are invisible in the U.S. economy.
Lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure an equitable economic recovery for Latinx families and for communities of color facing worsened racial inequality. One way to do that is by providing access to and success in higher education. But today only one in four Latino adults have an associate’s degree or higher. And while Latinos were the only racial/ethnic group whose enrollment in higher education went up in 2019, fewer Latinos enrolled in higher education in 2020.
To raise degree attainment and increase economic opportunities for Latinos, lawmakers must end federal underinvestment in the institutions that enroll a disproportionate number of Latinx undergraduates nationally. In higher education, that means increasing funding for Hispanic-serving institutions.
Hispanic-serving institutions are nonprofit colleges with Latinx enrollment of 25 percent or more, collectively enrolling 2.5 million Latinx students. HSIs are defined in federal higher education law and receive a discretionary funding stream from the U.S. Congress. The 436 HSIs today that are eligible for this funding must compete for available grants.
The problem is that Hispanic-serving institutions, most of which are public institutions, are woefully underfunded. The grant program that Congress established for these institutions has not kept pace with the need. A recent analysis by the Center for American Progress showed that federal funding for HSIs has translated into only $87 per enrolled Latinx student. Almost half of HSIs are also community colleges, which have a $78 billion revenue gap when compared to public four-year institutions. And lower funding translates into worse college completion and labor market outcomes.
Multiple Policy Solutions
As the young Latinx population reaches college age, the number of Hispanic-serving institutions will increase. In fact, Excelencia in Education has identified more than 350 “emerging HSIs” -- colleges with Latinx enrollment nearing the 25 percent statutory threshold that would categorize them as an HSI. The number of HSIs has tripled over the last three decades and could hit over 900 by the end of the decade. Because HSIs compete for funding that has remained fairly stagnant over the past decade, that means even more HSIs will be applying for a small pot of money.
Congress could choose from among multiple policy solutions to address the underfunding of Hispanic-serving institutions. Options include increasing the congressional appropriation to $1 billion or guaranteeing and increasing HSI funding. The former would mean that Congress would increase competitive funding to HSIs by roughly $750 million. The latter would mean that Congress would set aside part of the HSI appropriation to provide grants for all HSIs, regardless of whether they have applied for funds, and would create the opportunity for a wider reach of constituents to call for more funding. These options show a commitment to HSIs from Congress and reinforce their importance in serving Latinx students.
One thing is clear: as Congress moves from providing relief to focusing on recovery, it should invest in Hispanic-serving institutions, which are key to the recovery of our country. HSIs educate the vast majority of the growing Latinx population, who are mostly young. Before the pandemic, Latinx students were entering college at a rate that was rising faster than their growth in the general population -- and faster than the enrollment rates of any other racial group. HSIs have been shown to help narrow the Latinx college completion gap more than non-HSIs, so these institutions are crucial to supporting this population -- to say nothing of the fact that racial inequality should not exist in a moral and just economy.
The Biden-Harris administration can help support the estimated 65 percent of Latinx voters who elected them by working with Congress to increase investments in Hispanic-serving institutions. This funding will help institutions meet the core purpose of the HSI grant program: expanding educational opportunities for Latinx students. To do so, we must reverse the recent declines in college enrollment due to the pandemic and prepare the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the country to participate in the economy.
