States Step In to Support Minority-Serving Institutions

"Institutions want to be recognized for the great work they're doing. What [the recognition] would say to the public, to the students, to our community, is that we don't just enroll a certain percentage of students. We also produce successful outcomes for those students."

"Hispanic-serving institutions in Colorado, for example, have been lobbying for a bill that would create a "thriving institutions" designation for colleges and universities that hit certain outcome standards for underserved student populations. The legislation, introduced in January, leaves open what that could mean but proposes setting up an advisory committee of student success experts, business leaders and others to help determine the standards."

"proponents of the bill want to apply the recognition to institutions serving all kinds of underserved students, from "Hispanic thriving institutions" to "rural thriving institutions" to institutions that show particularly strong outcomes for adult learners, first-generation students, military students or parenting students."

Following significant federal funding cuts to minority-serving institutions, state lawmakers and higher education leaders are exploring alternative support mechanisms. Some states are creating new institutional designations that recognize colleges and universities serving underrepresented student populations based on specific outcome standards. Colorado is advancing legislation to establish a "thriving institutions" designation for colleges meeting success benchmarks for underserved students, including Hispanic, rural, adult, first-generation, military, and parenting students. Other states are working to make state funding more flexible to help MSIs replace lost federal grants. These efforts aim to publicly recognize institutions' effectiveness in serving diverse populations while potentially opening pathways for future state funding support.

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