March 23, 2018

HACU Statement on Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations bill passed and HSI impact

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has released the following statement on the recently passed Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 appropriations bill and its impact on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).

This week Congress’ $1.3 trillion appropriations included a total increase of $31.7 million in funding for HSIs. A 14.3% increase for the two most critical HSI programs at the U.S. Department of Education, HEA Title V-Part A (undergraduate education) and HEA Title V-Part B (graduate education), will bring the total funding for Part A to $123.2 million and Part B to $11.05 million. In addition, the funding for the new National Science Foundation (NSF) program for HSIs was doubled to $30 million in FY 2018. 

"This investment recognizes the increasingly important role that Hispanic-Serving Institutions play in educating and training the fastest-growing segment of America’s workforce, Hispanic Americans," said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. 

More of the nation’s estimated 500 HSIs will benefit due to the increase of $16.7 million in HEA Title V institutional development grant funds and the increase of $15 million in the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) funding for the remainder of the current fiscal year that ends on September 30, 2018.

Although the new $123.2 million funding level for Title V-Part A is the highest amount the program has ever received, it still fails to keep pace with the growth in the number HSIs, which have more than doubled since 2005. Less than 50% of HSIs have been awarded a grant. 

HACU expresses its gratitude to the Senate and House leadership, as well as the appropriations committees in Congress, HSI supporters in the House of Representatives and the Senate and the bi-partisan members of the Congressional HSI Caucus for their support and looks forward to continue engagement with them in order to increase these positive investments in FY 2019. 

About HACU 
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) was established in 1986 with a founding membership of eighteen institutions. In 1992, HACU led the effort to convince Congress to formally recognize campuses with high Hispanic enrollment as federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and to begin targeting federal appropriations to those campuses. Today, HACU represents more than 470 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America, and Spain. HACU is the only national educational association that represents HSIs. For more information, visit www.hacu.net. 

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