Products

Top 50 Graduate Schools for Hispanics 2025

by

Adriana Alcántara

Administration January 2025 PREMIUM

Higher education data shows that the pathway between undergraduate and graduate education narrows considerably for Hispanics/Latinos, with relatively few continuing their studies at this level, resulting in a persistent under-representation of Hispanics/Latinos in Master’s and PhD programs.

Nonetheless, the number of Hispanic/Latino students pursuing graduate studies has grown steadily over the past years, a positive development that, over time, will allow a larger proportion of Hispanics/Latinos to climb to higher levels of expertise, income and leadership. Every year, Hispanic Outlook provides a snapshot of the presence of Hispanics/Latinos in graduate education through specific data on the institutions that enroll and graduate the largest numbers of Hispanic/Latino students at this level.

The three lists presented here are based on H.O.’s analysis of 2022-23 data from the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). This is the most recent data made available by IPEDS since October 2024. For the 2022-23 academic year, our three lists include: 

• Top 50 schools with the highest number of overall Hispanic/Latino graduate enrollments, which includes all doctoral and master’s programs, full and part time enrollments, enrollments by degree- and certificate-seeking students, and enrollments in graduate courses by non-degree/certificate-seeking students

• Top 50 schools with the highest number of graduate degrees granted to Hispanic/Latino students, which includes master’s degrees and all categories of PhD degrees

• Top 50 schools with the highest number of PhD degrees granted to Hispanic/Latino students - including PhDs for research/scholarship, for professional practice, and for other purposes  

Each of these lists provides some key insights into overall trends in Hispanic/Latino graduate studies, as well as specific information on each institution.

 

Hispanic/Latino Graduate Enrollments

The most recent data indicates a continuing trend of modest but steady growth in Hispanic/Latino graduate enrollments. In the 2022-23 academic year, the top 50 schools listed here enrolled 150,441 Hispanic/Latino students in all graduate programs, 4,068 more than in the 2021-22 academic year; likewise, there was an increase of 6,062 Hispanic/Latino graduate students the year before that, between 2020-21 and 2021-22.

In 2022-23, each one of the 50 institutions listed enrolled more than 1,700 Hispanic/Latino graduate students; the top four - Grand Canyon University, Western Governors University, Florida International University and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley - enrolled more than 5,600 each.

Another trend that has continued is the notably higher enrolment of Hispanic/Latino women in graduate programs than Hispanic/Latino men. Indeed, more than two-thirds (68%) of all Hispanic/Latino graduate students enrolled at these top 50 institutions were women (102,423), while less than one-third (32%) were men (48,018).

A little more than half (28) of the top 50 schools listed here are public; 15 are private non-for-profit institutions, and the remaining 7 are private for-profit schools. However, among the top ten, eight are private. 

It is notable that even among these top 50 institutions, which enroll the largest numbers of Hispanic/Latino graduate students, these students still constitute a relatively small proportion of the total graduate student body. Indeed, at two-thirds of these 50 institutions (33 of them), Hispanic/Latino graduate students constituted less than one-quarter of the total number of graduate students.

Hispanic/Latino students represented a large proportion of the graduate student body (more than half) at only five schools: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (77%), Ana G. Mendez University in Florida (71%), the University of Texas at El Paso (66%), California State University Los Angeles (56%), and California State University San Bernardino (54%). Another six institutions had Hispanic/Latino students comprising more than a third of all graduate students. 

 

Graduate Degrees Granted to Hispanic/Latino Students

The top 50 institutions on this list conferred 41,403 graduate degrees to Hispanic/Latino students in the 2021-22 academic year, 1,991 more than in 2021-22. Each one of the top 10 of these institutions conferred more than 1,100 graduate degrees to Hispanic/Latino students. Florida International University conferred the highest number (2,289), followed by Grand Canyon University (2,242), Western Governors University (1,870), and the University of Southern California (1,743).

Given that a greater number of Hispanic/Latino women than men were enrolled in graduate programs, more graduate degrees were granted to Hispanic/Latino women than to men at every single institution on this list, and by a notable difference in many cases. As with graduate enrollment, two-thirds (67%) of all graduate degrees for Hispanics/Latinos were conferred to women. Hispanic/Latino women received a total of 27,708 graduate degrees at these top 50 institutions, while men received a total of only 13,695.   

Miami Regional University stands out for conferring the largest proportion of graduate degrees to Hispanic/Latino students (88%), followed by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (76%) and the University of Texas at El Paso (68%). Eight more institutions conferred more than one-third of their degrees to Hispanic/Latino students. However, as with graduate enrollments, more than two-thirds of these top 50 schools (35 of them) granted less than one-quarter of all graduate degrees to Hispanic/Latino students.

These top 50 graduate degree-granting institutions for Hispanic/Latino students are located all across the country; however, 58% are found in California, Texas and Florida (with 12, 9 and 8 in each, respectively).

 

PhD Degrees Granted to Hispanic/Latino Students

The number of PhD degrees granted to Hispanic/Latino students remains low overall, with each institution on this list granting between 75 and 290; only Nova Southeastern University granted more than 500. This number continues to increase, albeit at a very modest pace, with 6,779 PhD degrees granted to Hispanic/Latino students at all 50 institutions in 2022-23, while 6,357 were granted in 2021-22 and 6,086 in 2020-21. 

With regard to gender, the imbalance between Hispanic/Latino women and men persists at the PhD level; more women receive PhD degrees than men do at 45 of these 50 schools. However, the gap is not as wide as it is with graduate enrollment, or with graduate degrees overall: the total number of PhD degrees conferred to Hispanic/Latina women at all 50 institutions was 4,036, while men were awarded a total of 2,743. Thus, the distribution of PhD degrees among Hispanic/Latino men and women is relatively more even, with 60% awarded to women and 40% to men.

The schools on this list that conferred the largest proportion of doctoral degrees to Hispanic/Latino students, out of all the doctoral degrees they awarded, were St. Thomas University in Florida (59%), the University of Texas at El Paso (56%), and St. Mary’s University in Texas (48%). The majority of these 50 institutions (40 of them, or 80%) awarded less than one-quarter of their total PhD degrees to Hispanic/Latino students. 

Among these 50 top PhD degree-granting institutions for Hispanics/Latinos, 27 are public institutions, 21 are private not-for-profit schools, and the remaining 2 are private for-profit schools.

 

  Graduate Enrollment 2022-2023
  Institution State Total Enrollment Hispanic/Latino Students Total Enrollment All Students Hispanic/Latino men Hispanic/Latino women  Percent Hispanic/Latino
1 Grand Canyon University AZ 10066 56932 2257 7809 18%
2 Western Governors University UT 7136 69729 2480 4656 10%
3 Florida International University FL 6048 12805 2237 3811 47%
4 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley TX 5614 7278 1863 3751 77%
5 National University CA 5556 15154 1532 4024 37%
6 Nova Southeastern University FL 4981 16138 1343 3638 31%
7 Walden University MN 4801 55848 921 3880 9%
8 Capella University MN 4784 42284 834 3950 11%
9 Liberty University VA 4535 67847 1779 2756 7%
10 University of Southern California CA 4289 30066 1489 2800 14%
11 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ 3855 22813 1070 2785 17%
12 University of Florida FL 3736 24698 1450 2286 15%
13 Southern New Hampshire University NH 3696 35383 1183 2513 10%
14 The University of Texas at El Paso TX 3185 4814 1199 1986 66%
15 Ana G. Mendez University FL 3011 4242 776 2235 71%
16 California State University-Long Beach CA 2937 7085 985 1952 41%
17 University of Phoenix-Arizona AZ 2916 31958 773 2143 9%
18 The University of Texas at Arlington TX 2752 16633 635 2117 17%
19 New York University NY 2591 32608 823 1768 8%
20 Chamberlain University-Illinois IL 2576 22396 300 2276 12%
21 The University of Texas at San Antonio TX 2576 5469 1006 1570 47%
22 Lamar University TX 2459 12102 529 1930 20%
23 Texas A & M University-College Station TX 2448 18383 1075 1373 13%
24 University of Central Florida FL 2360 11862 905 1455 20%
25 California State University-Los Angeles CA 2330 4169 789 1541 56%
26 American Public University System WV 2321 17834 1421 900 13%
27 California State University-Northridge CA 2236 6263 687 1549 36%
28 Johns Hopkins University MD 2236 30745 1068 1168 7%
29 University of Arizona AZ 2210 12094 911 1299 18%
30 University of California-Los Angeles CA 2209 14612 890 1319 15%
31 University of Miami FL 2199 7984 843 1356 28%
32 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM 2124 6592 864 1260 32%
33 Purdue University Global IN 2052 16906 598 1454 12%
34 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ 2051 15965 580 1471 13%
35 Harvard University MA 2045 25119 954 1091 8%
36 San Jose State University CA 2018 10355 575 1443 19%
37 Florida State University FL 2010 13643 673 1337 15%
38 University of South Florida FL 1987 13781 640 1347 14%
39 California State University-Fullerton CA 1972 5558 644 1328 35%
40 San Diego State University CA 1944 5940 585 1359 33%
41 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA 1861 33849 1447 414 5%
42 Columbia University in the City of New York NY 1797 28443 674 1123 6%
43 California Baptist University CA 1786 4332 416 1370 41%
44 University of Illinois Chicago IL 1786 13167 589 1197 14%
45 Texas Woman's University TX 1776 7748 170 1606 23%
46 Azusa Pacific University CA 1739 4697 423 1316 37%
47 University of Houston TX 1720 9957 653 1067 17%
48 Pepperdine University CA 1712 8245 405 1307 21%
49 Ashford University CA 1706 9849 560 1146 17%
50 California State University-San Bernardino CA 1706 3183 515 1191 54%
               
               
SOURCE: NCES-IPEDS DATABASE AS OF 2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR          
  All Graduate Degrees 2022-2023
  Institution State Total Degrees Granted Hispanic/Latino Students Total Degrees Granted All Students Hispanic/Latino men Hispanic/Latino women  Percent Hispanic/Latino
1 Florida International University FL 2289 4547 854 1435 50%
2 Grand Canyon University AZ 2242 12997 496 1746 17%
3 Western Governors University UT 1870 22141 669 1201 8%
4 University of Southern California CA 1743 12822 611 1132 14%
5 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley TX 1574 2080 491 1083 76%
6 Nova Southeastern University FL 1371 4365 379 992 31%
7 National University CA 1244 3791 299 945 33%
8 University of Florida FL 1155 7618 491 664 15%
9 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ 1109 6386 314 795 17%
10 New York University NY 1100 14473 332 768 8%
11 The University of Texas at El Paso TX 1007 1489 398 609 68%
12 Capella University MN 852 8025 133 719 11%
13 Southern New Hampshire University NH 845 9506 263 582 9%
14 The University of Texas at Arlington TX 842 5370 198 644 16%
15 California State University-Long Beach CA 800 2064 263 537 39%
16 University of California-Los Angeles CA 783 5369 288 495 15%
17 Walden University MN 765 10333 151 614 7%
18 University of Miami FL 751 2667 294 457 28%
19 Texas A & M University-College Station TX 738 5739 353 385 13%
20 Columbia University in the City of New York NY 736 13074 274 462 6%
21 The University of Texas at San Antonio TX 735 1633 269 466 45%
22 Liberty University VA 709 12222 254 455 6%
23 Lamar University TX 687 3410 191 496 20%
24 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM 668 1838 261 407 36%
25 California State University-Los Angeles CA 657 1244 219 438 53%
26 University of Central Florida FL 654 3440 252 402 19%
27 Florida State University FL 643 4349 218 425 15%
28 California Baptist University CA 630 1468 155 475 43%
29 Johns Hopkins University MD 628 9796 271 357 6%
30 University of Arizona AZ 616 3287 248 368 19%
31 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ 600 4737 174 426 13%
32 University of Phoenix-Arizona AZ 599 5394 166 433 11%
33 The University of Texas at Austin TX 595 4681 271 324 13%
34 San Jose State University CA 592 3265 172 420 18%
35 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ 591 5888 225 366 10%
36 San Diego State University CA 574 1969 160 414 29%
37 Miami Regional University FL 567 645 199 368 88%
38 University of South Florida FL 561 4091 191 370 14%
39 Harvard University MA 558 7380 271 287 8%
40 California State University-Fullerton CA 549 1621 174 375 34%
41 Boston University MA 547 8124 192 355 7%
42 Georgetown University DC 542 5869 239 303 9%
43 University of Houston TX 534 3145 202 332 17%
44 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL 528 8285 231 297 6%
45 California State University-Northridge CA 518 1680 144 374 31%
46 CUNY Hunter College NY 509 2089 104 405 24%
47 University of Illinois Chicago IL 504 3889 165 339 13%
48 University of California-Berkeley CA 502 5267 217 285 10%
49 Pepperdine University CA 501 2658 107 394 19%
50 Texas Tech University TX 489 2672 202 287 18%
               
               
SOURCE: NCES-IPEDS DATABASE AS OF 2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR          

 

  PhD Degrees 2022-2023
  Institution State Total PhD Granted Hispanic/Latino Students Total PhD Granted All Students Hispanic/Latino men Hispanic/Latino women  Percent Hispanic/Latino
1 Nova Southeastern University FL 574 1719 186 388 33%
2 University of Florida FL 286 1874 127 159 15%
3 University of Miami FL 267 924 106 161 29%
4 Florida International University FL 263 694 110 153 38%
5 University of Southern California CA 241 1901 102 139 13%
6 Texas A & M University-College Station TX 206 1490 102 104 14%
7 University of California-Los Angeles CA 189 1402 76 113 13%
8 University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences CA 187 1219 71 116 15%
9 University of Illinois Chicago IL 166 1385 67 99 12%
10 St. Thomas University FL 165 281 57 108 59%
11 University of the Incarnate Word TX 147 409 51 96 36%
12 The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio TX 141 495 48 93 28%
13 University of Arizona AZ 138 990 59 79 14%
14 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ 135 1396 50 85 10%
15 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM 132 475 56 76 28%
16 The University of Texas at El Paso TX 131 236 58 73 56%
17 The University of Texas at Austin TX 130 1291 57 73 10%
18 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI 128 1640 64 64 8%
19 Harvard University MA 126 1530 71 55 8%
20 University of California-Berkeley CA 126 1245 48 78 10%
21 University of California-Davis CA 122 1048 41 81 12%
22 New York University NY 121 1536 37 84 8%
23 Columbia University in the City of New York NY 116 1478 48 68 8%
24 Liberty University (was 72 last year!) VA 115 2201 51 64 5%
25 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH 115 1784 43 72 6%
26 Stanford University CA 115 1069 69 46 11%
27 Barry University FL 105 414 37 68 25%
28 University of Pennsylvania PA 105 1336 37 68 8%
29 Baylor University TX 103 715 30 73 14%
30 St. Mary's University TX 103 213 47 56 48%
31 University of Houston TX 103 860 43 60 12%
32 Boston University MA 102 1196 33 69 9%
33 Northwestern University IL 101 1084 48 53 9%
34 Western University of Health Sciences CA 100 778 26 74 13%
35 Florida State University FL 98 814 35 63 12%
36 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI 96 1452 48 48 7%
37 Texas Tech University TX 93 565 48 45 16%
38 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ 92 863 45 47 11%
39 Midwestern University-Glendale AZ 90 808 38 52 11%
40 University of California-Irvine CA 86 723 36 50 12%
41 Touro University NY 85 657 36 49 13%
42 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL 85 1137 37 48 7%
43 University of California-San Francisco CA 84 615 37 47 14%
44 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN 84 1804 39 45 5%
45 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA 84 1464 38 46 6%
46 The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston TX 83 456 35 48 18%
47 Tufts University MA 83 788 34 49 11%
48 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC 78 1253 34 44 6%
49 Loyola Marymount University CA 77 333 28 49 23%
50 Walden University MN 77 1500 19 58 5%
               
               
SOURCE: NCES-IPEDS DATABASE AS OF 2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR          

 

 

 

 

Share with:

Product information

Post a Job

Post a job in higher education?

Place your job ad in our classified page on the HO print & digital Edition

Post a Job