Hispanic-Serving Institution/Minority-Serving Institution Grant Eligibility Details
Important Update on CU Denver | Anschutz HSI Designation
June 3, 2022
Our commitment to equity guides our research community and the decisions we make, including those that affect our students, our faculty, our staff and our workplace. In fall 2021, the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus was designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Department of Education (DoEd). However, we were recently notified that our HSI status has changed.
While we remain fully dedicated to educating a diverse workforce of future leaders, we are no longer considered a HSI because of a slight enrollment dip among our Hispanic students in fall 2020, caused in large part by the pandemic. The DoEd uses a complex and rigorous formula to determine this official status, and Latinx student enrollment numbers at CU Denver | Anschutz (calculated jointly) were 24.8% -- just below the federally mandated HSI threshold of 25%.
The situation is similar for our Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) federal designation, which calls for an undergraduate enrollment that is at least 10% Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander. Our AANAPI student population is currently about 9.9%.
This change in federal designation status means that our faculty and researchers will not be eligible for HSI-designated grants in fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023). If we regrow our enrollment for fall 2022 to the federal eligibility mark of 25%, we could receive federal designation as an HSI as early as fiscal year.
What does this mean for researchers now?
- Researchers should not submit grants that have HSI or AANAPISI eligibility requirements.
- PIs and co-PIs should not represent CU Denver | Anschutz as having fiscal year 2022 HSI or AANAPISI eligibility to colleagues at other institutions who may be looking for collaborators with such designations.
- Because of our current situation, we do not expect to be eligible for other Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) grants at this time, though there are nuances for how each agency program determines eligibility.
Despite this change in designation, CU Denver | Anschutz remains committed to ensuring both of our campuses are culturally responsive and inclusive to Latinx and all underrepresented students, staff and faculty, as well as our surrounding communities. We are working diligently to earn back our HSI and AANAPISI status by enhancing our enrollment through focused retention and recruitment strategies.
If you have questions about our eligibility for a broader MSI grant, please contact Terry Hughes, DEI grant director, at terence.hughes@ucdenver.edu. He will contact the sponsoring agency or funder to learn which method they use to determine eligibility.
We appreciate your patience and support as we work through these changes. For more information about our current and near-future status as an MSI, please see a list of FAQs.