Attaining Latino Student Success: HSIs Leading in Economic Mobility

When colleges and universities enroll and graduate traditionally underserved students, society benefits. Unfortunately, college ranking publications continue to promote highly-selective and well-resourced institutions of higher education, prioritizing selectivity over economic mobility. To learn more about the critical role Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) play in getting Latino students across the finish line, Third Way co-hosted a conversation with our partners at Excelencia in Education.

Lanae Erickson,Senior Vice President of Social Policy, Education, & Politics at Third Way, discussed the Economic Mobility Index (EMI)—a new rating system that assesses which colleges are delivering on the promise of good outcomes for their students, especially low- and moderate-income students. Then Deborah Santiago, Co-Founder and CEO of Excelencia in Education gave an overview about their research and work in this field before turning to our panelists, all administrators at Hispanic-Serving Institutions across the country. Deborah was joined by Dr. Fernando Delgado, President of CUNY Lehman College; Dr. Alam Hasson, Interim Vice Provost at Fresno State University; and Dr. Magdalena Hinojosa, Sr. VP of Strategic Enrollment & Student Affairs at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. They discussed the unique challenges their students face, the support services necessary to get them to and through college, and emphasized the impact that a college degree has on their students and communities.