HSI funding and immigration key issues at HACU's 22nd Annual National Capitol Forum

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) 22nd Annual National Capitol Forum on Hispanic higher education concluded successfully, with representatives from more than 60 institutions making a total of 200 visits with Congressional representatives.

The annual visits to Capitol Hill allowed state delegates from the higher education community to speak directly with members of the House and Senate. Click here for a list of institutions that were represented at the Capitol Forum, many participated in this year’s visits.As part of their meetings, HACU delegates sought support from their representatives for the following:  

• The formation of a Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Caucus by the House of Representatives during the 115th Congress. The bipartisan Caucus would serve to facilitate the sharing of information among members of Congress that have HSIs or emerging HSIs in their districts.
• Increasing HSI funding for FY 2018 for HEA Title V-Part A to $117 Million (an increase of $10 M); HEA Title V-Part B to $20 Million (an increase of $10 M) and $30 Million for a HSI dedicated program at the National Science Foundation. Based on IPEDS data, HSIs on average receive just 69 cents on the dollar received by all other institutions from all federal sources to educate a disproportionately high number of both low income and first-generation students.
• Co-sponsorship of the BRIDGE Act (H.R.496 or S.128) to provide provisional protected presence for three years to qualified individuals who came to the United States as children. About 750 thousand individuals would qualify. About 200 thousand are in higher education - most of them at HSIs.

HACU also released its 2017 Legislative Agenda, now available online. 

The 2018 HACU Capitol Forum will take place on April 9-10 at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center, Washington, D.C.