$60.1M awarded to enhance Hispanic serving colleges.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced 99 new grant awards totaling $60.1 million to enhance colleges that enroll a high percentage of Hispanic students.

In the $49.7 million Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, 78 institutions will expand educational opportunities and improve the educational attainment of Hispanic students. Nearly $10.4 million awarded from the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Program will support 21 institutions that offer a postbaccalaureate certificate or degree to help Hispanic Americans enroll and succeed in graduate study, a level of education in which they are underrepresented.

“We can meet President Obama’s goal of having the highest college graduation rate in the world by 2020 only if we dramatically boost college completion rates among students of all races, ethnicities and income levels,” Duncan said. “These two programs make an important contribution toward that goal by ensuring that the institutions serving Hispanic students offer high quality programs and provide support services to help their students stay in school and succeed.”

Grants awarded under the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program fund activities such as faculty development, curriculum development, academic tutoring and mentoring, and construction and renovation of instructional facilities.

Under the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Program, Hispanic-serving institutions use their grant awards to provide outreach to students, including mentoring, scholarships or fellowships, and academic support services, purchase library materials and update educational technology, renovate classrooms, support faculty exchanges, and collaborate with other institutions of higher education to expand their degree offerings.

Both programs fund grants for a total of five years.

A Hispanic-Serving Institution is defined as an eligible institution of higher education that has at least 25 percent Hispanic full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate enrollment.

For more information at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/idueshsi/index.html>