UNLV joins the new Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Research Universities

UNLV has reported that the 20 universities represent all universities that have been classified as R1 (very high research activity) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions by the Department of Education.


UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield, said: "By working together, this alliance of powerhouse universities has the research and institutional capacity to make a real impact for current and future Hispanic students and scholars.”

We must point out the key objectives for 2030 of this alliance:

Double the number of Hispanic doctoral students enrolled at Alliance universities. As of Fall 2021, UNLV had 181 enrolled Hispanic doctoral students.
Increase by 20% the Hispanic professoriate in Alliance universities. UNLV currently has 70 full-time instructional faculty who identify as Hispanic or Latino.

On the other hand, UNLV underlines that representing nine states, the 20 HSRU Alliance universities together enrolled 766,718 students in the Fall of 2020; of those, 33% (254,399) were Hispanic. In 2020, the combined research spending of these universities totaled more than $5.9 billion.

Additionally, in 2019-20, Alliance universities produced 11,027 Ph.D. graduates, of which 13% (1,451) were Hispanic.

“Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are now 17% of the workforce, yet they continue to be underrepresented in higher education. No group is better positioned than we are to expand the pathway to opportunity,” said Heather Wilson, president of the University of Texas at El Paso and chair of the Alliance.

“With Hispanics making up less than 6% of U.S. doctoral students, we must be intentional about creating opportunities for Hispanics,” said Michael Amiridis, outgoing chancellor for the University of Illinois Chicago.

Prior to the formal announcement of the HSRU Alliance, the universities began working together on several initiatives. The first project, funded by a $5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, will conduct cross-regional research and train doctoral students in Latinx humanities. A second initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, expands opportunities for Hispanic students in computer science.

In 2015, UNLV became the first four-year institution in Nevada with Hispanic enrollment of 25 percent, meeting the U.S. Department of Education's definition of a Hispanic Serving Institution. Currently, more than 30% of UNLV's students identify as Hispanic or Latino, and In 2021 the university ranked as the nation's most diverse for undergraduates by U.S. News & World Report.