Colleges serving Latino students struggle with infrastructure needs
Many Hispanic Serving Institutions or HSIs had "extensive facility needs” including unmet digital infrastructure issues, a GAO report found, with funding being an issue.
A new study from the Government Accountability Office found that postsecondary institutions that cater to large Latino student populations face severe infrastructure needs, including massive, multimillion-dollar backlogs in facility and maintenance projects and issues with digital and internet access.
Researchers at GAO surveyed 169 colleges and universities in the United States, including Puerto Rico, and found a system plagued by “extensive facility needs,” including lack of maintenance, delayed repairs for severe weather events and deferred facility renovations.
The institutions also expressed a need for updated digital infrastructure, such as internet access, cybersecurity and hybrid learning facilities.
Hispanic-serving institutions, or HSIs, are colleges or universities whose enrollment is made up of at least 25% Latino students, and they play a pivotal role in the Latino community. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 574 HSIs enrolled over 2 million Latinos, accounting for 60% of all Hispanic college students, according to GAO.
But the crucial mission of HSIs is complicated by struggles to maintain and update their facilities, the report states, and the issue is exacerbated by difficulties to secure funding as well as rising construction costs and declining tuition revenue.
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