SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Latino students now represent more than 25% of UC Davis’ enrollment, positioning the school to qualify as a Hispanic-Serving Institution — a benchmark becoming more common across higher education.

The designation, recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, is given to schools with a student body of at least 25% Hispanic students and makes them eligible for millions of dollars in federal grants. This fall, UC Davis’ undergraduate Latino enrollment reached 8,100 or roughly 25.1% of the school’s population, according to the university.

UC Davis had previously secured federal designations as a Minority Serving Institution and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.

The school’s focus on Latino students has been assisted by the campus’ Center for Chicanx and Latinx Academic Student Success, also known as El Centro, and the Undocumented Student Resource Center. Both centers offer services including academic advising, mental health support, professional development opportunities, academic seminars and community programs.

“Achieving eligibility for HSI designation shows that UC Davis is fulfilling its mission to serve the state, the nation and the world,” said UC Davis Chancellor Gary May, in a statement. “We’re empowering more young people from underserved communities and closing the gap on socioeconomic disparities in access to higher education, particularly research universities.”

The HSI label has become an increasingly more attainable distinction as the country’s Latino population grows. About 600 institutions across the country met the HSI definition in 2022-23, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

But schools with that designation sometimes fail to live up to the name.

Sacramento State, recognized as an HSI in 2015, has faced criticism in recent years from Latino faculty and students who say the HSI label is not synonymous with addressing student needs.

Earlier this year, Sacramento State hired 17 faculty members with expertise in working with Latino students to address some of those concerns.

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