Season 1 | Episode 1 | Dr. Jacob Bonne & Erin King
TRANSCRIPT
[0:06] KING
Hey everybody, this is Erin from Steppingblocks, and I'm here with our analytics consultant and co-host, Dr. Jacob Bonne. More people than ever are questioning the value of higher education. We're here to explore why they're right, why they're wrong and which institutions are rising to the challenge. In Season One, we're investigating the new normal created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing challenges in higher education.
[0:35] BONNE
Today, we're going to be focused on the top 10 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the United States. So you won't want to miss our conversation as we explore that. Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or HSIs, are the fastest growing sector in higher education. HSIs represent 16% of all institutions in higher ed in the United States, yet serve 65% of all Hispanic students.
[1:01] KING
So what does that have to do with the new normal?
[1:04] BONNE
So certainly, as we're exploring the trends in higher ed, it's really important to understand how this rising sector of higher ed is responding to the challenges that COVID has really leveraged against institutions across the country. In particular, Latinx student enrollment dropped by 5% in of Fall 2020, eating away at more than a decade of gains. And so HSIs are certainly leading the charge to support those students, and provide great resources for student success initiatives to make sure that they're succeeding in all ways possible. And so as we explore these institutions today, I think there are great lessons that can be learned from their practices. And I'd really encourage any of our viewers to go out and do a little bit of research and connect with some of your colleagues at these institutions to see what innovative approaches and practices they're facilitating.
[2:00] KING
So before we jump into that top 10 List of Hispanic serving institutions, I wanted to do a quick shout out to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). They represent HSIs. Have you Dr. Bonne seen the new data dashboard that they've created to help both, there's a couple of different things actually. To help students looking to apply to an HSI. It also helps state officials learning the landscape of HSIs in their state. And also it helps institutions themselves looking to build a network to collaborate with. So if you haven't seen it yet, I'll make sure to share it after this vidcast, and I'll make sure to add it to the show notes so that everyone here has access.
[2:45] BONNE
Yeah, that's great. You know, here at Steppingblocks we're passionate about providing data and helping individuals leverage data to make smart decisions; additional access like HACUs dashboard sounds like a great resource for all institutions, and especially HSIs.
[3:02] KING
Alright, so with that, why are we talking about this list today, Dr. Bonne? Why should other schools care?
[3:11] BONNE
Yeah, so you know, I think really the the best practices that are emerging at these institutions to support students have application for all institutions, and perhaps even some applications for a variety of student populations. And so thinking about how to rise to the challenges of the new normal that we're living in is really a key component. And so I think we've got a lot to learn as we continue to navigate the changing landscape of higher ed. And these HSIs are doing great work, so I'm excited to learn a little bit myself as we do some research into their successes.
[3:51] KING
Number 10 is Rutgers University of Newark. Rutgers-Newark has an average alumni salary of over 100K, so really great outcomes is an attractive reason for students to attend this school.
[4:07] BONNE
Certainly their location in New Jersey in the tri-state area helps with their mission to support all students, of course, but also connect with the HSI designation. Number nine is the University of Houston, which also supports a great growing metro area, one of the largest growing metro areas in the country. They have an acceptance rate of around 65% and a very popular Honors College.
[4:33] KING
Also high alumni salary for University of Houston at over 90K. Number eight is San Diego State University. So Qualcomm is the top employer for San Diego State University, and fun fact about Qualcomm: they've made Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work for several times in a row. So that's a great reason for students attending this school and studying electrical engineering to want to earn a degree there.
[5:03] BONNE
Absolutely. As we've talked about this new normal a degree in electrical engineering certainly represents the technical disruption that higher ed is facing. Number seven, Florida International University, right down the road from me actually, is also on the list. 67% of their 50,000 students are Hispanic, and they also rank number 19 on niche.com's Best Campuses in America.
[5:30] KING
Number six is the University of Arizona. Students here cite a good undergrad experience. That's a really important reason when you're selecting a school. They also have a high average alumni salary of around 89K.
[5:45] BONNE
Cal State, Long Beach is number five on the list. They have a 39% acceptance rate and a Hispanic population of about 42% of their student body, so another strong California school on the list.
[6:00] KING
Number four is Texas Tech University for the top 10 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the U.S. They have a competitive online degree program, high acceptance rate and they boast the Big 12 Athletic Conference membership. All good reasons to want to join this school.
[6:18] BONNE
As is their top employer, Lockheed Martin, another great employer across the country. Speaking of top employers, Lockheed Martin, number three on the list is the University of Central Florida. I do have to say go Knights. I'm a UCF alumni myself. UCF has a significant Hispanic enrollment and acceptance rate of 44%. And as I mentioned, Lockheed Martin is a top employer with lots of mechanical engineering students from UCF headed to Lockheed.
[6:46] KING
Number two is UC Irvine. Their top employer is Amazon and the top major for that employer is computer science. So they are in trend with everything else we're seeing across higher ed and the majors that are becoming more popular as it is growing as an industry.
[7:04] BONNE
And of course, with that growing IT industry is a higher alumni salary almost $97,000 a year. And number one on our list of Top 10 HSIs across the country is UC Santa Barbara. It's rated very highly by students for its campus experience, and has fantastic economic sociology programs. And it really is a great campus. Their top employer is Google, and again, talking about computer science and trends in this new normal that we're living in.
[7:42] KING
Okay, so you're probably wondering where this list came from. So Dr. Bonne, do you want to talk a little bit about the the two methods for pulling this information together
[7:52] BONNE
Yeah, absolutely. So we leveraged some of the list and data that's available through niche.com about some of the top institutions across the country. And really, you know, niche has done great work to help provide information to folks, including the rankings based on rigorous analysis and reviews from students. In addition to that we're leveraging our own data here at Steppingblocks to explore these institutions from employer outcomes, salary and many of the other data points that we're leveraging to help universities make strategic decisions about their programs and their alumni and graduate outcome efforts.
[8:39] KING
Alright, so that's it. That is the list of the Top 10 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the U.S. We're so excited to launch Season 1 of this vidcast that will uncover what the new normal really means in higher education. So tune in weekly for exclusive interviews with leaders in your field, data driven trends for students success and insider hacks for 2022 and beyond.
[9:03] BONNE
Absolutely, I hope to also respond to some trending topics and issues as they continue to come up in this new normal that we're living in. We'll talk to you soon.