Do Hispanic-Serving Institutions Really Underperform?

While more Hispanics than ever before are attending college (Fry & López, 2012; Fry & Taylor, 2013), completion gaps in higher education persist. Only half of Hispanic students who started a bachelor’s degree in 2006 completed it within six years, compared to 63% of non-Hispanic White students; 36% of Hispanics who started in 2008 completed an associate’s degree within three years, versus 30% of non-Hispanic Whites (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2013a). Given the need for a growing cadre of educated workers for the burgeoning knowledge economy, gaps in completion, particularly at four-year colleges, pose a challenge to the nation (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010).¹ National demands for increased degree completion, as expressed by Complete College America, the Lumina Foundation’s Goal 2025, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and President Barack Obama, cannot be met without improving the educational outcomes of Latina/o students. Due to the current and expected growth in the population, postponing a response to the challenge of improving education for Latinas/os is no longer an option (Gándara, 2003; Kelly, Schneider, & Carey, 2010).