Las Vegas City Wire

The University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) is now among the 20 most critical institutions serving Hispanic students.

According UNLV News Center, the school is now part of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities (HSRU), which means it facilitates prospects for an underserved demographic in higher education.

“Finding solutions to today’s increasingly complex research challenges requires insight from diverse perspectives and diverse professionals," UNLV President Keith Whitfield said, according to UNLV News Center.

UNLV reported  that the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education recognized the 20 schools as having significant research opportunities, R1, and the U.S. Department of Education noted that they are “Hispanic-serving institutions.”

“Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are now 17% of the workforce, yet they continue to be underrepresented in higher education," Heather Wilson, president of the University of Texas at El Paso and chair of the Alliance, told UNLV News Center. "No group is better positioned than we are to expand the pathway to opportunity. We believe we are stronger together than as individual institutions acting alone.”

The objective of the HSRU is to double the number of Hispanic doctoral students and increase the Hispanic professors in Alliance-based schools to 20% by 2030. UNLV reports that there were 181 Hispanic doctoral students during the fall semester and 70 full-time Hispanic faculty members.

"To get there, we must develop initiatives that inspire students from underrepresented communities to consider careers in higher education and support them every step of the way," Whitfield told UNLV News Center. "By working together, this alliance of powerhouse universities has the research and institutional capacity to make a real impact for current and future Hispanic students and scholars.”