Mercy College Partners with Excelencia in Education to Shed Light on Latino College Completion Trends
Mercy College has partnered with Excelencia in Education to bring new analysis on Latino college completion and enrollment trends across the United States to the public. The analysis, “Latino College Completion: United States 2023,” provides comprehensive, up-to-date information on Latino enrollment and graduation rates as well as programs proven to work for Latinos at the institutional, national and state levels. It also demonstrates a large gap in college completion rates for Latino students when compared to other populations and highlights best practices for advancing Latino college student success.
“Mercy College shares Excelencia in Education’s analysis as a means to bring awareness to the significant barriers to earning a college degree that Latino college students face,” said Susan L. Parish, Ph.D., M.S.W., president of Mercy College. “The analysis also highlights the institutions, such as Mercy, that proudly engage, enroll and graduate today’s students – who are increasingly Latino – and prepare them to succeed in their professional endeavors and as engaged citizens.”
“Excelencia is proud to bring this analysis to the public with support from 25 college, university, and system leaders committed to serve Latino students while serving all,” said Sarita Brown, co-founder and president of Excelencia. “Especially in this moment of change in higher education and in our society, we remain focused on Latino College Completion and recognize its importance to ensuring America’s future.”
“Since our inception 19 years ago Excelencia has tracked and shared analysis about Latino students in higher education to inform, catalyze and support institutional change as the Latino student population continues to grow,” said Deborah Santiago, co-founder and chief executive officer, who leads Excelencia’s research and policy agenda. “Trendsetting college and university leaders recognize the opportunity to increase Latino participation at their institutions and focus on these students completing degree programs, entering the workforce and civic leadership roles.”
The Latino College Completion analysis shows that in order to close the gap in college completion rates for Latino students, they must accelerate so they earn 6.2 million more degrees by 2030. Higher education institutions can help close this gap by increasing Latino completion and scaling up programs and initiatives that work for Latino students.
According to the analysis, Mercy College is among the top institutions in the State of New York. It is ranked 19th among enrolling and 10th in graduating Latinos. New York is the state with the fourth largest Latino population and Mercy College is the largest, private non-profit Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in New York. Forty-four percent of Mercy’s undergraduate student population is Hispanic, a number that has grown 10% in the past seven years.
In September 2022, Mercy College received the prestigious “Seal of Excelencia” from Excelencia in Education, honoring it as a national exemplar in advancing prospects for success in college for its Hispanic students. Mercy is the first private college in the country, as well as the first HSI in New York State, to receive this certification. There are 30 institutions that have earned the Seal of Excelencia for demonstrating, through data, practice, and leadership, that its institutional practices serving Latino students are measurable, intentional, and effective. These institutions, which now include Mercy College, are trendsetters in higher education.
Mercy is committed to serving and supporting Latino students intentionally, by creating the conditions that maximize their educational success. The College has invested in several transformational strategies to serve Hispanic students and position them to succeed, including its PACT personal mentoring program, which was designated a 2020 Example of Excelencia finalist. Since the advent of the PACT program, retention and graduation rates of Latino students at Mercy have seen remarkable improvement. Mercy College recently issued more than 500 bachelor’s degrees to graduating Hispanic students, the fourth most in the continental U.S. among private HSIs and more than several of Mercy’s neighboring institutions combined.
Further, Dr. Parish is part of Excelencia’s national Presidents for Latino Student Success network, comprised of institutional leaders who have committed to making their institutions learning environments where Latino students thrive. Through the network, Excelencia, Dr. Parish and higher education leaders from across the country are leveraging collective expertise to impact Latino college completion at the national level.