SPRINGFIELD – In order to assess the current landscape of Hispanic-serving institutions in Illinois, State Senator Graciela Guzmán presented the need for the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Task Force before the Education Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
“Hispanic students make up a significant portion of Illinois’ student body and Hispanic workers make up a large portion of our work force,” said Guzmán (D-Chicago). “This task force will give us a greater understanding of what barriers our Hispanic students are facing and how we can best adjust state policy to meet their needs.”
Senate Bill 3752 would assess the current landscape of Hispanic-serving institutions and emerging Hispanic-serving institutions in the state, identify barriers to student access, retention, and completion, and review existing state policies and accountability frameworks to determine their impact on Hispanic-serving institutions and their students' success.
The task force would seek to align Hispanic-serving institutions' efforts with state workforce and economic development priorities, and consider the feasibility of creating a permanent state initiative or funding mechanism to support Hispanic-serving institutions.
According to the Illinois Department of Central Management, those reported as Latino or Hispanic in Illinois make up 19%, the second largest ethnic group. However, they only represent 7% of state employees, which shows a wide discrepancy between population and representation in government.
According to the Latino Policy Forum, Illinois has 39 Hispanic Serving Institutions and 19 emerging Institutions in the state of Illinois. These institutions faced cuts from the federal government when the Trump administration ended $350 million in discretionary funding to Minority-Serving Institution grant programs.
“Illinois needs to ensure these institutions continue to uplift members of our community and are not threatened by bigoted budget cuts in Washington,” said Guzmán. “We need to take action now to ensure pathways for Hispanic students to leadership, higher education and a secure place in the economy.”
Guzmán will fight for the passage of the task force.
