By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research & Scholarship

UW–Madison’s Anthony Hernandez is the author of a new essay in the Sacramento Bee that explores what it means for colleges and universities to build support programs to help students succeed, especially in Minority-Serving Institutions. Hernandez is a teaching faculty member in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies.

In the essay, “Support Needed for California’s Black-Serving Institutions,” Hernandez recounts criteria needed for designation as a California Black-Serving Institution, which now total 31 colleges and universities enrolling about 28% of that state’s Black college population. He also examines student outcomes at those institutions, which must show measurable progress in rates for completion, graduation, transfer and student success over a five-year period to keep their designations.

Hernandez also describes a new dashboard developed at the University of Southern California that makes data and outcomes at the 31 institutions more transparent. He argues that addressing large gaps in outcomes between white and Black students requires renewed federal funding and more of the support programs put in place by Black-Serving Institutions boasting stronger Black student outcomes, such as Compton College.

“The college has spent more than a decade building a system connecting basic needs support, advising and guided pathways,” said Hernandez in the essay, noting that racial inequities, including under-resourced secondary schools, can follow many Black students to campus. “Students (at Compton) can access food programs, childcare and healthcare alongside academic advising that keeps them on track. …These results show what becomes possible when colleges build systems that support students from enrollment through completion.”

Hernandez said the essay themes also connect closely with two of his other recent pieces: a journal article in Chicago Black Policy Review examining the “often overlooked” work of serving Black students in Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and an economic analysis in Fortune magazine exploring links between education and entrepreneurship.

In the journal article, “Beyond Enrollment: Black-Serving Policy Challenges in Hispanic-Serving Institutions Today,” Hernandez argues that California’s recent policy enacting a statewide Black-Serving Institution designation stemmed from growing concern that postsecondary institutions enrolling Black students were not always designed to meet their needs. The policy offers a measurable solution: defining serving through enrollment baselines while holding designated institutions accountable for Black student outcomes.

Hernandez describes the enrollment-based designations as a starting point but finds they fail to communicate the need to pair access with appropriate supports. He said this was especially important in Hispanic-Serving Institutions — federally designated to enroll at least 25% Latino students — that also serve multiple student populations.

“Access does not mean equitable outcomes,” Hernandez said in the article. “When enrollment is used as a proxy for serving, it can cloud the efforts that determine student persistence, completion, and success.”

As with his Sacramento Bee piece, the salient question overall, according to Hernandez, is not simply whether institutions enroll Black students, but whether those institutions are structurally organized to support the students’ success.

Read more about the economic analysis in Fortune magazine in a recent article from the School of Education’s Communications & Advancement team.