A common adage states that “we can only change what we can measure”; this is certainly true for higher education policy and practices, where it is always useful to draw on specific data in order to understand the current scenario and envisage paths towards progress. Hispanic Outlook is committed to providing readers with key information on how Hispanic/Latino students are present in higher education – the specific institutions where the highest numbers are enrolled, and where they are obtaining the most degrees at all levels and in various key fields of study. 

In order to do this, we draw on the latest data from the most reliable source – the federal NCES Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) - to present a unique set of lists on enrolment at 2- and 4-year institutions, and degrees granted by level and field of study. The following pages present these lists for the 2022-23 academic year.

General Trends

Analyzing the general trends among the top 100 institutions that serve the highest number of Hispanics/Latinos reveals notable patterns. Are these the same for the 2022-23 academic year (the most recent data available, presented here) as they were for the 2021-22 academic year, presented last October? How has the overall landscape for Hispanic/Latino students changed, and how has it remained the same?

• Hispanic/Latino enrolment overall, at both 2-year and 4-year schools, is higher than it was in the 2021-22 academic year, which reverses the previous downward trend. Last October, enrolment data for the 2021-22 academic year indicated that there had been a decrease in enrolment with regard to the previous year, probably due to the continuing impact of the Covid19 pandemic. It is encouraging that the latest 2022-23 data shows an upward trend, with the total number of Hispanic/Latino students enrolled at all top 100 2-year institutions increasing by 19,618 with regard to 2021-22, and by 65,673 at all top 100 4-year institutions.

• Most of the top Hispanic/Latino-enrolling institutions are public. All the top 100 2-year institutions in terms of largest Hispanic/Latino enrolment are public; among the top 100 4-year institutions, 85 are public and only 15 are private.

• Enrolment at 4-year schools continues to be higher than enrolment at 2-year schools. In 2022-23, the total number of Hispanic/Latino students enrolled at the top 100 4-year schools was 1,540,485 while the total number enrolled at the top 100 2-year schools was 1,013,322. Thus, half a million more Hispanic/Latino students were enrolled at top 100 4-year schools than at top 100 2-year schools.

• A large proportion of Hispanic/Latino students are still concentrated in a fairly small number of institutions. There were 427,592 Hispanic/Latino students enrolled at the top 25 2-year institutions (with more than 12,100 enrolled at each). Thus, enrolment at the top quarter of 2-year institutions represented nearly half  (42%) of total enrolment at all 100 of these institutions. Likewise, there were 714,828 Hispanic/Latino students enrolled at the top 25 4-year schools (with more than 19,000 enrolled at each), which also represents nearly half (46%) of total enrolment at all 100 of these schools. 

• Hispanic/Latino students represent a much larger proportion of the total student body at the top 100 2-year institutions than at the top 100 4-year institutions.  As was true last year, in 2022-23 Hispanic/Latino students also made up the majority of the total student body (50% or more) at half of the top 100 2-year institutions; only 7 of these schools had less than 25% Hispanic/Latino students (the minimum threshold for becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution). In contrast, Hispanic/Latino students were the majority (50% or more) at only one-third of the top 100 4-year institutions, and more than a quarter (28) of these schools had less than 25% Hispanic/Latino enrolment. 

• Overall, there were many more Hispanic/Latino women than men enrolled, continuing a notable trend over the past several years. Among the top 100 2-year institutions, 156,288 more women than men were enrolled in the 2022-23 academic year. Among top 100 4-year institutions the gap is even greater, with 311,439 more women than men enrolled. Among top 100 2-year schools, only 6 had more Hispanic/Latino men enrolled than women; among 4-year institutions, only 3 enrolled more Hispanic/Latino men. 

• The majority of top Hispanic/Latino-enrolling 2- and 4-year institutions were in California and Texas. Over half (59) of top 2-year schools were in California, followed by 12 in Texas; thus nearly three-quarters of these schools were located in these two states alone. The next largest number was in Illinois (10); the remaining 19 were spread across 10 additional states. Among top 4-year schools, more than half of them were in these two states, with one-third (33) in California, and another 23 in Texas. These 4-year institutions had a greater geographic spread than the top 2-year institutions, however, with a large number in Florida (15) and in Arizona (8); the remaining 21 were located in another 14 states. 

• Graduate degrees for Hispanic/Latino students are still lagging far behind associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees, with around three times less degrees granted at the Masters level than at the others. In the 2022-23 academic year, the total number of associate degrees granted at all 100 listed institutions was 136,214; total bachelor’s degrees granted were 176,869 and total masters degrees were 52,611.

Specific Institutions

• In 2022-23, East Los Angeles College and El Paso Community College retained their top positions in terms of enrolment of Hispanic/Latino students at 2-year institutions; they were joined by Fresno City College in third position.  Two-year institutions with the highest percentage of Hispanic/Latino students as a proportion of total students also remained the same: Texas Southmost College (89%), Imperial Valley College (89%), Southwest Texas Junior College (88%), and El Paso Community College (84%).

• Among 4-year institutions, the top 3 in terms of Hispanic/Latino enrolment have retained their position: Miami Dade College, Dallas College and Florida International University. The 4-year institutions with a student body primarily composed of Hispanic/Latino students (more than 85%) continued to be Laredo College (96%), South Texas College (95%), The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (91%), and Texas A & M International University (85%). 

• Institutions awarding the largest number of associate degrees to Hispanic/Latino students were Miami Dade College, Dallas College and the Lone Star College System. In terms of associate degrees awarded to Hispanics/Latinos as a proportion of all associate degrees granted, the top schools in 2022-23 were exactly the same as in 2021-22: Laredo College (98%), South Texas College (96%) and Texas Southmost College (96%).

• The largest number of bachelor’s degrees was awarded to Hispanics/Latinos by Florida International University, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and California State University – Northridge, which have retained their top positions. Likewise, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Texas A & M International University again had the largest percentage of these degrees awarded to Hispanic/Latino students (with 94% and 92% of all degrees respectively); they have held this position for at least the past two years.

• With regard to master’s degrees, Hispanics/Latinos received the largest number of these at Grand Canyon University, Florida International University and Western Governors University, while Miami Regional University and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley had the largest proportion of master’s degrees awarded to Hispanics/Latinos (88% and 77% of total master’s degrees, respectively), retaining their top positions.

Download the Top 100 Colleges and Universities list here: The Hispanic Outlook Top 100 Colleges and Universities for Hispanics