ABSTRACT
Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) have existed as a distinct category in higher education only for the last 11 years. Not until 1992 were they recognized by Congress as an institutional type, largely because of the work of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. The study of Hispanic-serving institutions has been largely neglected by researchers or practitioners. Existing literature includes Olivas’ (1982) work, recent annual status reports on minorities in higher education by the American Council on Education that include degrees conferred by Hispanic-serving institutions, and a few brief references in recently published works (Justiz, Wilson, & Björk, 1994; Padrón, 1994; Rendón & Garza, 1996). This gap is rather surprising when one considers that approximately half of all Hispanic2 students in postsecondary education are enrolled in HSIs and that HSIs grant more degrees to Hispanic students than any other colleges or universities.
