Mapping Hispanic-Serving Institutions: A Typology of Institutional Diversity

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), institutions that enroll at least 25% Hispanic students, are institutionally diverse, including a much wider array of institutional types than other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Furthermore, they have distinctive institutional characteristics from those typically emphasized in institutional typologies such as the Carnegie classification system. To understand better the heterogeneity among HSIs based on their unique institutional qualities, we constructed a conceptual model based on existing theoretical frameworks and empirical research to describe and differentiate among HSIs. Using cluster analysis to examine a population of U.S. mainland and Puerto Rican 2-year and 4-year HSIs in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we identified six types of HSIs. This typology helps to place HSIs within the broader landscape of U.S. higher education institutions, provides a foundation for understanding institutional diversity among HSIs, and offers insights about classifying other MSIs and broad access institutions. In an era of increasing accountability, it also provides a tool to identify peer institutions for HSIs, to inform decisions about the extent to which practices at certain HSIs might be applicable to other institutions, and to compare the performance across institutions in more contextually appropriate ways.