A Proud Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Since 1994

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) are defined under the Higher Education Act (HEA) as colleges or universities where at least 25 percent of the undergraduate, full-time enrollment is Hispanic; and at least half of the institution’s degree-seeking students must be low-income. Eighteen of the California State University’s 23 campuses meet this criteria, allowing them to qualify for federal funding to expand and enhance educational opportunities for their students,  including those of Hispanic descent.

• CSUSB first received its distinction as an HSI in 1994 and has received that distinction every year since
• CSUSB has been Title V eligible since 1994, and renews its eligibility annually
• CSUSB has received the USDE distinction as a High Hispanic Enrolling institution since the inception of that program in 2006
• According to IPEDS reported data, CSUSB has qualified as an MSI institution since 2009

The data below was obtained by the Office of Insitutional Research at California State University, San Bernardino, this reflects the growing number of identified Hispanic Students at CSUSB, over the last 5 years. 

*Preliminary data as of 9/11/18

Minority Serving Institutions (MSI): 

HSIs fall under the umbrella of an MSI, please continue reading for more information: 

In the higher education system of the United States, minority-serving institutions (abbreviated MSI) make up a category of educational establishments (federally recognized Title IV colleges and universities) based on enrollment criteria (typically the percentage of enrolled minorities at a particular school). Such schools are eligible for federal funding under Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Until 2007, no federal legislation existed concerning Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Serving Institutions. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 made history, because it federally recognized the existence of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) serving institutions, making them eligible to be designated as minority serving institutions.

The seven categories of MSI are as follows:

• Historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) – institutions founded prior to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that were created primarily to educate African Americans (e.g. Howard University)
• Black-serving non-HBCUs – institutions that do not meet the legal definition of HBCUs, but where African American students amount to at least 25% of the total undergraduate enrollment, while other minority groups each constitute less than 25% of total undergraduate enrollment (e.g. Georgia State University).
• Hispanic-serving institutions – institutions in which Hispanic students amount to at least 25% of the total undergraduate enrollment, while other minority groups each constitute less than 25% of total undergraduate enrollment (e.g. University of Texas at El Paso and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
• Asian Pacific Islander-serving institutions – institutions in which Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (API) students constitute at least 25% of the total undergraduate enrollment, while other minority groups each constitute less than 25% of total undergraduate enrollment (e.g. University of California, Los Angeles)
• American Indian-serving institutions – tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) or institutions that are not HBCUs/TCUs but in which American Indian/Alaska Native students constitute at least 25 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment, while students in each of the other minority groups constitute less than 25 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment (e.g. Southeastern Oklahoma State University)
• Other minority-serving: institutions in which minority students constitute at least 50 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment, but do not fit any of the above categories
• Non-minority-serving: institutions that do not meet any of the criteria described above

Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI)

Defined by the Higher Education Act as degree-granting institutions with Full-Time Equivalent undergraduate enrollments at least 25% Hispanic.

• In 2016, 492 institutions met the federal enrollment criterion, enrolling 2,075,317 Hispanics.
• HSIs are 14.5% of non-profit colleges and universities, yet enroll 24.5% of all students and 63.0% of all Hispanic students.
• HSIs receive 68 cents for every dollar going to all other colleges and universities annually, per student, from all federal funding sources.
• The number of HSIs continues to grow rapidly, from 189 institutions in 1994, to 229 in 2000, to 245 in 2005, to 311 in 2010, and 492 in 2016, double the number 11 years earlier.
• Of the 492 HSIs in 2016, 215 (44%) were public two-year institutions, 120 public four-year institutions, 135 private four year institutions, and 22 private two year institutions.

Source: 2016-17 IPEDS data using Title IV eligible, 2 year & 4 year, Public and Private, non-profit institutions.