The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel utilized the expertise of UW–Madison’s Anthony Hernandez in a recent article reporting on the financial struggles and uncertain future facing Milwaukee’s Alverno College.
Alverno, Wisconsin’s first federally-designated Hispanic-serving institution, is confronting a $9 million deficit for the fiscal year and has declared a financial emergency.
The article notes that becoming a Hispanic-serving institution opens doors to federal grants, but it is difficult for some colleges to meet the requirement of enrolling 25% full-time Hispanic students.
Hernadez, a teaching faculty member in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies, explains that achieving the designation is only “half the battle.” When a college becomes a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI), they must then compete against a pool of more 500 other HSIs for federal funding.
According to Hernandez, HSIs like Alverno are historically underfunded. They receive 25% less federal funds per student than other higher education institutions.
“Because a lot of the HSIs are under-resourced, it’s really challenging to be competitive for these federal grants,” he said.
Some HSIs have a “well-oiled machine” to compete for federal grants, Hernandez said in the article. But smaller schools “don’t have the resources to compile detailed grant applications, which means they can lose out on funding.” Also, within an institution, “many programs are competing for limited dollars.”
“I promise you that any amount of money that comes in is going to be sought out by many people at the university, and how are you going to distribute it?” Hernandez said.
Check out the full article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to learn more about this important issue.