SAMPLE LETTER:

(Please revise with information about your institution and other information at your discretion.)

July 10, 2005

The Honorable

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Senate <st1:placename w:st="on">Office <st1:placetype w:st="on">Building

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Washington, <st1:state w:st="on">DC <st1:postalcode w:st="on">20510

                                      

Dear Senator     :

I am writing to you, as a member of the Subcommittee on Appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, to request your support to increase FY 2006 appropriations for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) under Title V of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) budget. These two funding requests are essential in order for HSIs to expand existing programs or initiate new ones to provide greater educational opportunity for Hispanic students.  As president of an HSI and a member of HACU, I encourage you to support:

  • A $175 million appropriation for FY 2006 Title V – Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions.  For FY 2005 Congress appropriated $95.1 million for Title V grants for HSIs. This amount represented a very modest increase over the $94.5 million appropriated for FY 2004. While the amount appropriated has helped some HSIs enhance their educational quality, there remain many others that continue to need Title V funding to make quality higher education possible for Hispanic students.  Currently there are over 240 HSIs eligible to compete for Title V grants--and the number continues to grow.
  • A $20 million appropriation for FY 2006 Title V – Developing Hispanic-Serving Graduate Programs.  Less than 13 percent of HSIs offer a doctoral degree. Many under-funded HSIs do not have the infrastructure to offer advanced degree programs. A $20 million appropriation to HSIs for development and strengthening of graduate programs under Title V would contribute to reversing the persistent under-representation of Hispanics in the teaching, science and professional ranks.
  • A $20 million line-item appropriation for FY 2006 directed to DHHS for faculty development, research and capacity building at HSIs.  Hispanics are persistently under-represented in health care and human services, especially in biomedicine and other developing medical technologies. The requested funding would be utilized by HSIs to develop or expand programs to improve the quality of undergraduate and graduate programs in natural sciences, biomedicine, and other medical technologies as a means to broaden Hispanic participation in the nation’s health care and human services fields.

As a leader in the U.S. Senate responsible for the health, education and workforce development of the nation, your support for increased funding for HSIs in FY 2006 will be greatly appreciated by the Hispanic students and other minorities who attend the nation’s more than 240 HSIs and by all who will benefit from their enhanced educational opportunity.  This investment in our colleges and universities is critical to providing our nation with the well-trained workforce needed to keep the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> in a leadership position in the world.

Thank you for your consideration of HACU’s and my request.

Sincerely,


The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, founded in 1986, represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain, and school districts throughout the U.S. HACU is the only national association representing existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The Association’s headquarters are in San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, California.

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