U.S. Department of Education: Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program

The Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) Program provides grants to assist Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students. DHSI Program grants enable HSIs to expand and enhance the academic offerings, program quality, faculty quality, and institutional stability of colleges and universities that are educating the majority of Hispanic college students and help large numbers of Hispanic students and low-income individuals complete postsecondary degrees.

Hispanic students are enrolling in postsecondary institutions at higher rates than ever before, yet their high enrollments are not translating to degree completion. HSIs have an opportunity to change the landscape by increasing the number of certificates and degrees attained by Hispanic and low-income students. Certificate and degree attainment is imperative to the thriving economy of the United States. HSIs’ high enrollment of Hispanic and low-income students enables them to serve as models for how best to meet the needs of Hispanic and low-income students. As such, this program supports HSIs that demonstrate a commitment to developing and/or enhancing a comprehensive plan that looks to identify and address the strengths and weaknesses of an institution’s enrollment, retention, support, and graduation rates of Hispanic and low-income students.

HSIs interested in applying to this grant program can use the development of their comprehensive plan to examine the alignment of their mission and current strategic plan with the needs of the target population and surrounding community to develop, enhance, and implement leadership, practice, and policies that best promote student success. Moreover, HSIs can use their plans as road maps to help all students, especially those with the highest needs, find exciting pathways to employment and career advancement. To this end, this competition includes two competitive preference priorities that are designed to promote student success:

• Competitive Preference Priority 1: Projects that are designed to expand the number of Hispanic and other underrepresented graduate and professional students that can be served by the institution by expanding courses and institutional resources
• Competitive Preference Priority 2: Projects that support instruction in personal financial literacy, knowledge of markets and economics, knowledge of higher education financing and repayment (e.g., college savings and student loans), or other skills aimed at building personal financial understanding and responsibility

Amount: Approximately $24,000,000 is available to make up to 40 awards ranging from $500,000-$600,000 per year for a project period of up to 60 months.

Eligibility: Institutions of higher education (IHEs) that qualify as eligible HSIs. See funding announcement for further details on eligibility.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=315947

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