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.

In an increasingly diverse United States, minority and low-income students of all ages struggle to fit into mainstream colleges and universities that cater predominantly to middle-income and affluent white students fresh out of high school. Anchored in a study conducted at twelve minority-serving institutions (MSIs), Educating a Diverse Nation turns a spotlight on the challenges facing nontraditional college students and highlights innovative programs and practices that are advancing students’ persistence and learning. Clifton Conrad and Marybeth Gasman offer an on-the-ground perspective of life at MSIs. Speaking for themselves, some students describe the stress of balancing tuition with the need to support families. Others express their concerns about not being adequately prepared for college-level work. And more than a few reveal doubts about the relevance of college for their future. The authors visited the four main types of MSIs—historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander–serving institutions—to identify strategies for empowering nontraditional students to succeed in college despite these obstacles. Educating a Diverse Nation illuminates such initiatives as collaborative learning, culturally relevant educational programs, blurring the roles of faculty, staff, and students, peer-led team learning, and real-world problem solving. It shows how these innovations engage students and foster the knowledge, skills, and habits they need to become self-sustaining in college and beyond, as well as valuable contributors to society.

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.

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.

Explores the particulars of minority-serving institutions while also highlighting their interconnectedness.

As the general population of Latinxs in the United States burgeons, so does the population of college-going Latinx students. With more Latinxs entering college, the number of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), which are not-for-profit, degree granting postsecondary institutions that enroll at least 25% Latinxs, also grows, with 523 institutions now meeting the enrollment threshold to become HSIs. But as they increase in number, the question remains: What does it mean to serve Latinx students? This edited book, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Practice: Defining “Servingness” at HSIs, fills an important gap in the literature. It features the stories of faculty, staff, and administrators who are defining “servingness” in practice at HSIs. Servingness is conceptualized as the ability of HSIs to enroll and educate Latinx students through a culturally enhancing approach that centers Latinx ways of knowing and being, with the goal of providing transformative experiences that lead to both academic and non-academic outcomes. In this book, practitioners tell their stories of success in defining servingness at HSIs. Specifically, they provide empirical and practical evidence of the results and outcomes of federally funded HSI grants, including those funded by Department of Education Title III and V grants. This edited book is ideal for higher education practitioners and scholars searching for best practices for HSIs in the United States. Administrators at HSIs, including presidents, provosts, deans, and boards of trustees, will find the book useful as they seek out ways to effectively serve Latinx and other minoritized students. Faculty who teach in higher education graduate programs can use the book to highlight practitioner engaged scholarship. Legislators and policy advocates, who fight for funding and support for HSIs at the federal level, can use the book to inform and shape a research-based Latinx educational policy agenda. The book is essential as it provides a framework that simplifies the complex phenomenon known as servingness. As HSIs become more significant in the U.S. higher education landscape, books that provide empirically based, practical examples of servingness are necessary.

Role of the MSEIP grant in the success of STEM undergraduate research at Queensborough Community College and beyond -- Enhancing student engagement with peer-led team learning and course-based undergraduate research experiences -- Aiming toward an effective Hispanic serving chemistry curriculum -- Computational chemistry and biology courses for undergraduates at an HBCU : cultivating a diverse computational science community -- NanoHU : a boundary-spanning education model for maximizing human and intellectual capital -- Design and implementation of a STEM student success program at Grambling State University -- The role of the ReBUILDetroit Scholars Program at Wayne State University in broadening participation in STEM -- "Using scholars programs to enhance success of underrepresented students in chemistry, biomedical sciences, and STEM" -- The MARC U*STAR Program at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) 1997-2018 -- Pathways to careers in science, engineering, and math -- Leadership dimensions for broadening participation in STEM : the role of HBCUs and MSIs -- Bloom where you are planted : a model for campus climate change to retain minoritzed faculty scholars in STEM fields -- Maximizing mentoring : enhancing the impact of mentoring programs and initiatives through the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development at Xavier University of Louisiana -- Mentors, mentors everywhere : weaving informal and formal mentoring into a robust chemical sciences mentoring quilt -- Using technology to foster peer mentoring relationships : development of a virtual peer mentorship model for broadening participation in STEM.