Hispanic-Serving Institution is an official designation from the US Department of Education. (Higher Education Act, Title V, as amended in 1992, to be more precise.) Unlike HBCU, another official status, the definition has nothing to do with who a school has historically served, but only the current student population. A college need not have always been an HSI to become one. A few colleges were intentionally founded to serve Hispanic students, but most HSIs grew to the status through strategy, geography, or both. Not surprisingly, most HSIs are in areas with larger Hispanic populations, places like California, Puerto Rico, and Texas.

To be categorized as an HSI, a college must meet a few basic criteria (like being a degree-granting, non-profit school) and have a student body that is at least 25% Hispanic. But that’s the key fact, being more than a quarter Hispanic. HSIs include four-year colleges and also community colleges.

Once a college passes the 25% Hispanic mark, then it can apply for the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation. This official status gives it marketing and recruiting power, since Hispanics makes up the largest ethnic minority in the US and are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country. Before Covid took over as the most-discussed topic in higher education (and the whole world), a lot of the big conversations in higher ed were about demographic shifts and how well colleges would be able to recruit and retain Hispanic students. The HSI designation also allows colleges to apply for special grants and other federal funding.

Why might it be important to you that a school is an HSI? If you are Hispanic yourself* and would like to make sure you go to a college with a concentration of other Hispanic students, then checking a college’s HSI status may be really important to you. If so, you may want to look farther than just “official” HSI list. There are also schools who meet the 25% threshold but haven’t finished the approval process yet. There are also some schools that are very close to the 25% line. All these are called “emerging” HSIs.

Obviously you don’t have to be Hispanic to care about diversity, and anyone may want to check a college’s HSI status before applying. But remember that HSI designation only has to do with numbers and the percentage of students who identify as Hispanic. It doesn’t necessarily say anything about the institutional values of a college, how diverse the non-Hispanic population is, or the experiences you can expect. You’ll need to look more deeply to get a feeling for those more qualitative things.

For a list of Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Exelecnia in Education has an up-to-date list plus some basic stats.

For a robust list that includes HSIs, emerging HSIs, and unofficial HSIs, go to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, which was instrumental in getting the original HSI legislation passed.

*I’m using the word “Hispanic” because it’s the term used by the Department of Education and other federal programs. I’m not intentionally overlooking or excluding you if you identify as Latina/o/x or Chicano/a.