The Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities is proud to welcome Texas A&M University as its 21st member.

With more than 16,000 students who identify as Hispanic, the addition of Texas A&M further expands the reach of the Alliance, which is working to increase opportunities for those historically underserved by higher education.

The 21 universities in the Alliance represent every university that has been both categorized as R1 (very high research activity) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. 

“We are pleased to become part of the HSRU,” said M. Katherine Banks, president of Texas A&M University. “This alliance presents unique opportunities to make rapid progress in advancing Hispanic student enrollment in doctoral programs and broadening pathways to the professorate.” 

The HSRU Alliance aims to achieve two key goals by 2030:

• Double the number of Hispanic doctoral students enrolled at Alliance universities, and
• Increase by 20% the Hispanic professoriate in Alliance universities.

“Our Alliance grows stronger as more leading research universities join us in increasing the number of Hispanic scholars earning doctorates,” said Dr. Heather Wilson, President of The University of Texas at El Paso and Chair of the Alliance. “We are very happy to welcome Texas A&M to this group of committed universities.”

Prior to the formal announcement of the HRSU Alliance in June, 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.

The Alliance began during the pandemic through conversations and distance-enabled meetings among Presidents and Chancellors, as well as faculty and administrators coordinated by the University of Illinois Chicago. 

In addition to Texas A&M, universities in the Alliance include: 

• Arizona State University
• City University of New York Graduate Center
• Florida International University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas Tech University
• The University of Arizona
• The University of New Mexico
• The University of Texas at Arlington
• The University of Texas at Austin
• The University of Texas at El Paso
• The University of Texas at San Antonio 
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• University of Central Florida
• University of Colorado, Denver
• University of Houston
• University of Illinois Chicago
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• University of North Texas

Media Contact: Scott Hernandez-Jason /shj@ucsc.edu 

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