Becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution by 2025

Dear Bruin Community:

Over the past year, a UCLA task force has been assembling a strategic action plan to determine how our institution could become federally designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Today, we are announcing the goal of having UCLA designated as an HSI by 2025.

As an HSI, our institution would qualify for a range of federal grants that would bolster our educational programs and benefit Latinx communities and all others on our campus. Research has shown that HSI designation strengthens interracial relations among all students, improves academic performance and attendance of students of color, and increases their likelihood of graduation.

The decision to pursue the federal HSI designation, which requires that 25% of our students identify as Latinx, is tied to our public responsibility in light of changing demographics in California and throughout the country. One million Latinx young people will turn 18 this year and every year for the next two decades in the United States; these students are important to our nation’s future, and we must ensure they are positioned to succeed and to lead.

Our Hispanic-Serving Institution Task Force — co-chaired by Professor of Sociology Vilma Ortiz, Professor of Education Sylvia Hurtado and Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Partnerships Alfred Herrera — has worked over the past year to prepare us to reach and maintain HSI status. In the next several years, we will partner with units across campus to help us achieve this goal. Efforts will include forging a stronger pipeline between UCLA and high schools and community colleges serving large Latinx populations as well as building up our campus support infrastructure for Latinx students.

Latinx Californians make up a larger percentage of our state’s population than do any other ethnic group. As a public institution, UCLA has a heightened obligation to ensure that we are doing all we can to make sure this is a campus that truly welcomes members of our Latinx communities, honors their intellectual and cultural contributions and supports their success. We embrace this obligation, just as we embrace the obligation to serve all of the diverse people that make up our state, and will remain vigilant to ensure that UCLA achieves these goals.

Sincerely,

Gene D. Block

Chancellor

Emily A. Carter

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost