Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)—specifically Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)—have carved out a unique niche in the nation, serving the needs of low-income, underrepresented students of color. Covering foundational topics relating to MSIs, chapter authors explore how salient issues across the landscape of higher education play out within the MSI context. Undergirded by national data and key literature, A Primer on Minority Serving Institutions provides graduate students, scholars, and researchers a full picture of the work and contributions of MSIs and urges them to think about MSIs as part of the larger higher education landscape.

There are over 20 million young people of color in the United States whose representation in STEM education pathways and in the STEM workforce is still far below their numbers in the general population. Their participation could help re-establish the United States' preeminence in STEM innovation and productivity, while also increasing the number of well-educated STEM workers. There are nearly 700 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) that provide pathways to STEM educational success and workforce readiness for millions of students of colorâ€"and do so in a mission-driven and intentional manner. They vary substantially in their origins, missions, student demographics, and levels of institutional selectivity. But in general, their service to the nation provides a gateway to higher education and the workforce, particularly for underrepresented students of color and those from low-income and first-generation to college backgrounds. The challenge for the nation is how to capitalize on the unique strengths and attributes of these institutions and to equip them with the resources, exceptional faculty talent, and vital infrastructure needed to educate and train an increasingly critical portion of current and future generations of scientists, engineers, and health professionals. Minority Serving Institutions examines the nation's MSIs and identifies promising programs and effective strategies that have the highest potential return on investment for the nation by increasing the quantity and quality MSI STEM graduates. This study also provides critical information and perspective about the importance of MSIs to other stakeholders in the nation's system of higher education and the organizations that support them.

Despite the increasing numbers of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and their importance in serving students who have historically been underserved in higher education, limited research has addressed the meaning of the growth of these institutions and its implications for higher education. Hispanic-Serving Institutions fills a critical gap in understanding the organizational behavior of institutions that serve large numbers of low-income, first-generation, and Latina/o students. Leading scholars on HSIs contribute chapters to this volume, exploring a wide array of topics, data sources, conceptual frameworks, and methodologies to examine HSIs’ institutional environments and organizational behavior. This cutting-edge volume explores how institutions can better serve their students and illustrates HSIs’ changing organizational dynamics, potentials, and contributions to American higher education.

Strong, effective, and innovative leadership is critical for institutions of higher education, especially for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Indeed, research and examples have shown leadership instability among some types of MSIs, while discussions and research on effective leadership for other MSIs is noticeably absent from the extant literature. In this volume, noted experts, researchers, and leaders discuss opportunities and challenges for leadership across the full range of MSIs, while creating a dialogue on leadership models and best practices. Chapters explore issues at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions(HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). This book helps higher education and student affairs scholars and administrators unpack contemporary leadership issues and strategies, and synthesizes best practices to help MSI leaders increase the effectiveness and sustainability of their institutions.

Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are responsible for educating 20 percent of the nation’s college students and nearly 40 percent of the nation’s students of color. This growing group of institutions is essential to higher education and moving toward a more equitable society. This important book focuses on the challenges faced by MSIs within the larger higher education context and provides practical solutions to address these challenges. From performance-based funding, to issues of being dually designated MSIs, to articulation agreements with community colleges, to college readiness, the authors tackle the most important topics in higher education by exploring these varied topics through the lens of MSIs.

A revealing look at the experiences of first generation students on elite campuses and the hidden curriculum they must master in order to succeed College has long been viewed as an opportunity for advancement and mobility for talented students regardless of background. Yet for first generation students, elite universities can often seem like bastions of privilege, with unspoken academic norms and social rules. The Hidden Curriculum draws on more than one hundred in-depth interviews with students at Harvard and Georgetown to offer vital lessons about the challenges of being the first in the family to go to college, while also providing invaluable insights into the hurdles that all undergraduates face. As Rachel Gable follows two cohorts of first generation students and their continuing generation peers, she discovers surprising similarities as well as striking differences in their college experiences. She reveals how the hidden curriculum at legacy universities often catches first generation students off guard, and poignantly describes the disorienting encounters on campus that confound them and threaten to derail their success. Gable shows how first-gens are as varied as any other demographic group, and urges universities to make the most of the diverse perspectives and insights these talented students have to offer. The Hidden Curriculum gives essential guidance on the critical questions that university leaders need to consider as they strive to support first generation students on campus, and demonstrates how universities can balance historical legacies and elite status with practices and policies that are equitable and inclusive for all students.

The first of its kind, Teacher Education across Minority-Serving Institutions brings together innovative work from the family of institutions known as minority-serving institutions: Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions. The book moves beyond a singular focus on teacher racial diversity that has characterized scholarship and policy work in this area. Instead, it pushes for scholars to consider that racial diversity in teacher education is not simply an end in itself but is, a means to accomplish other goals, such as developing justice-oriented and asset-based pedagogies.