The Push and Pull of Financial Aid on Latina/o Student Persistence at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

• In Event: 30.042 - Examining Latina/o Students Where They Enroll: Furthering Research on Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

Today, Latina/o high school graduates have the highest rates of college enrollment among all ethnic groups, and most will begin their path toward degree attainment at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) (Santiago, Calderón Galdeano, & Taylor, 2015). Currently, HSIs serve more than half of all Latina/o students enrolled in American higher education (HACU, n.d.). Although HSIs play a vital component in the degree attainment of Latinas/os, they are critically under-resourced when compared to non-HSIs (HACU, 2012; Hurtado & Ruiz Alvarado, 2015; Ortega, Frye, Nellum, Kamimura, & Vidal-Rodriguez, 2015). For example, HSIs on average receive 66 cents per federal dollar given to non-HSIs (Calderón Galdeano, Flores, & Moder, 2012). HSIs also charge lower tuition, rely more heavily on revenues from state and federal sources of funding, and are generally more vulnerable to declines in state and federal funding (Oretega et al., 2015).

At the same time, HSIs are also enrolling a larger share of Latinas/os with a greater financial need (Nuñez, Hurtado, & Calderón Galdeano, 2015). For example, HSIs on average enroll more than 40% of all Pell grant recipients in higher education, which is significant considering that HSIs represent only 11% of all higher education institutions (HACU, n.d.; Malcom-Piqueux & Lee Jr., 2010; Nuñez, 2015). Despite the prevalence of Latinas/os with financial need enrolled in HSIs, limited empirical research examining factors associated with Latina/o student persistence has to date primarily concentrated on non-HSIs (Gross & Torres, 2010; Gross, 2011; Gross, Torres & Zerquera, 2013).
To address these current gaps in the research, finding from a study that explores how institutional financial aid resources at an HSI influence Latina/o college students’ persistence across time will be presented. Using an event history analysis discrete-time hazard model, this study’s research question addresses: When controlling for other factors, how do financial aid resources across time, influence a Latina/o student’s risk of withdrawing at a four-year Hispanic-Serving Institution? Findings from this study will provide a starting point toward understanding the influence that financial resources have on success outcomes for Latina/o students, and HSIs, who are both being called upon to do more with less (Cunningham, Park, & Engle, 2014; Kirklighter, Cardenas, & Murphy, 2008; Malcom, Dowd, & Yu, 2010; Núñez, Hurtado, et al., 2015).

Author

• Vanessa Ann Sansone, The University of Texas - San Antonio