A little-known federal program has helped to empower generations of underserved Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students. This week, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking new steps to strengthen it.
By Erika L. Moritsugu, Krystal Ka‘ai, and Philip Kim
Last Friday, President Joe Biden issued the first-ever White House proclamation celebrating the impact of the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) program and formally proclaimed September 25 through October 1, 2023, as National AANAPISI Week. The move is not only historic – it is the latest in a series of unprecedented steps taken by the Biden-Harris Administration to uplift the vital role of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), providing a critical pathway to higher education for millions of Americans and to secure safety and stability in the middle class.
Ever since Congress first established the AANAPISI program in 2007, these campuses have empowered generations of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) students. Both federal data and independent research show the influence of the AANAPISI program in broadening opportunity and putting higher education within reach for underserved AA and NHPI communities, many of whom are low income and the first in their families to attend college.
The facts are clear. Though AANAPISIs make up a small percentage of U.S. colleges and universities, they enroll nearly half of the nation’s AA and NHPI undergraduate students. AANAPISIs also confer almost 50 percent of the associate degrees and nearly 30 percent of the baccalaureate degrees attained by all AA and NHPIs in the United States. Their efforts have also yielded progress in other ways – including improved retention and degree attainment rates for underserved communities.
In addition, AANAPISIs employ and cultivate many of America’s top AA and NHPI leaders in higher education,…
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