20 largest Hispanic serving research universities form alliance to increase Hispanic opportunity

Alliance goals: double Hispanic doctorates and increase number of Hispanic professors by 20%

June 13, 2022 at 11:00am

FIU is among 20 of the nation’s top research universities that have formed the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities to increase opportunity for those historically underserved by higher education.

The 20 universities represent every university that has been both categorized as R1 (very high research activity) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education.

“Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are now 17% of the workforce, yet they continue to be underrepresented in higher education. No group is better positioned than we are to expand the pathway to opportunity,” said Heather Wilson, president of The University of Texas at El Paso and Chair of the Alliance. “We believe we are stronger together than as individual institutions acting alone.”

The HSRU Alliance aims to achieve two key goals by 2030:

Double the number of Hispanic doctoral students enrolled at Alliance universities, and
Increase by 20% the Hispanic professoriate in Alliance universities.

“At FIU we are committed to using our growth and success as a lever to create national impact,” said FIU Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Elizabeth M. Bejar. “This is a critical opportunity to lead through our collaborative efforts to fortify the national research portfolio and positively impact the future of the academy."

Representing nine states, the 20 HSRU Alliance universities together enrolled 766,718 students in the Fall of 2020; of those, 33% (254,399) were Hispanicⁱ. In 2020, the combined research spending of these universities totaled more than $5.9 billionⁱⁱ.

The Alliance universities are engaged in thousands of research projects in the arts and humanities, STEM, health sciences, social sciences and other fields with world-changing outcomes. In 2019-20, Alliance universities produced 11,027 doctoral graduates, of which 13% (1,451) were Hispanic.

“With Hispanics making up less than 6% of U.S. doctoral students, we must be intentional about creating opportunities for Hispanics,” said Michael Amiridis, outgoing chancellor for the University of Illinois Chicago. “We believe this Alliance will make rapid progress in advancing Hispanic student enrollment in doctoral programs and broadening pathways to the professoriate by building on our strength as Hispanic serving research universities.”

Prior to the formal announcement of the HRSU Alliance, the universities began working together on several initiatives. The first project, funded by a $5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, will conduct cross-regional research and train doctoral students in Latinx humanities. A second initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, expands opportunities for Hispanic students in computer science.

The Alliance began during the pandemic through conversations and distance-enabled meetings among presidents and chancellors, as well as faculty and administrators coordinated by the University of Illinois Chicago. The effort took hold and grew into a determination to formalize the relationship announced today.

“By improving Hispanic representation in academia, this Alliance will change the face of higher education,” said Kim Wilcox, chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. “We can bring diverse perspectives into the research conducted by our exceptional faculty, creating opportunities for purposeful careers both in and outside of academia for Hispanic students.”

Universities in the Alliance include:
Arizona State University
City University of New York Graduate Center
Florida International University
Texas Tech University
The University of Arizona
The University of New Mexico
The University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at San Antonio
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Riverside
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Central Florida
University of Colorado, Denver
University of Houston
University of Illinois Chicago
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of North Texas

Learn more about the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities at HSRU.org.

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ⁱ Federal Department of Education IPEDS data for Fall 2020.
ⁱⁱ National Science Foundation, Higher Education Research and Development Survey, 2020