The Challenges of Comparing Postsecondary Outcomes of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Non-HSIs

• In Event: Educational Outcomes and the Role of Institutional Type

Abstract

A comparison of overall graduation rates between HSIs and non-HSIs has lead researchers to conclude that HSIs underperform. However, not enough is known about the differences between HSIs and other institutions within their respective sectors to know whether these comparisons are appropriate. Drawing from institutional data from IPEDS, we use propensity score matching to create comparable sets of HSIs and non-HSIs in order to examine the completion rates of these two sets of institutions using student population, cost and aid, institutional policies that promote completion, and other institutional characteristics. Results from the analysis demonstrated that for the group of HSIs and non-HSIs that were found comparable, gaps in Latino completion rates between HSIs and non-HSIs were largely reduced to nonsignificance.

Authors

• Awilda Rodriguez, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Emily Calderon Galdeano, Excelencia in Education