“Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is a powerful voice in Congress for opening new doors to college and career success for Hispanic students in Florida and in every state,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “HACU celebrates her unwavering championship of the education needs of our country’s youngest and largest ethnic population.”

Flores presented Ros-Lehtinen with the national leadership award during HACU’s four-day 18th Annual Conference, which ended Tuesday in Miami, Florida. HACU represents more than 390 colleges and universities, which collectively serve more than two-thirds of all U.S. higher education students, and an international membership of leading higher education institutions throughout Latin America and in Spain.

Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman elected to the United States Congress, is a founder and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, which promotes education initiatives and other issues of importance to Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent.

Ros-Lehtinen is an avid supporter of HACU’s proposals to dramatically increase federal spending for the infrastructure needs of the country’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), including a proposal to provide first-time graduate education program funding for HSIs as part of the five-year reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. HSIs have a student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic.

As a former member of the Florida Legislature, she introduced the Florida Pre-Paid College Tuition program, which continues to be the largest program of its kind in the United States.

In Congress, she serves on the International Relations and Government Reform Committees. She is the first Hispanic woman in Congress to chair a subcommittee as chair of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia.

For more information about HACU’s 18th Annual Conference, visit www.hacu.net, or contact HACU Public Affairs at (619) 997-1637