For Immediate Release
February 12, 2018
Statement from HACU President on the Impact of Proposed FY 2019 Budget on Hispanic-Serving Institutions
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has released the following statement on the impact of the Trump Administrations’ proposed fiscal year 2019 budget on Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
"President Trump’s proposed budget to Congress for Fiscal Year 2019 is short-sighted with respect to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and fails to accomplish the stated goal of the overall education budget proposal to protect our nation’s most vulnerable students," stated HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. "HSIs are very diverse. In addition to serving two thirds of the nation’s Hispanic college students, they also enroll more than 20 percent of African American college students, 17 percent of American Indian students, and 37 percent of Asian Americans students. HSIs enroll sizable numbers of Anglo students and students from other ethnic backgrounds, too, reflecting the rich diversity of America among the nearly 5 million students they serve."
"The proposed budget consolidates most institutional development grant programs in HEA Title III and all HEA Title V grant programs into a single formula-based allocation. However, officials at the U.S. Department of Education acknowledged that they don’t have a specific plan in place. Such a drastic change would impact the way these important grant programs serve their multiple purposes. It seems more about administrative convenience and budgetary expediency. This approach will not help the more than 3.5 million Hispanic and other low-income and first-generation students achieve their hope of higher education success," said Flores.
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.
###