Texas Border Business
MCALLEN, TEXAS – South Texas College has been ranked in the Top 3 nationwide, and No. 1 in Texas for enrolling and graduating Latinos according to Excelencia in Education.
Washington D.C.-based Excelencia, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve education outcomes for Latino college students, published its findings as part of a Latino college completion study Aug. 12.
STC enrolled 31,949 students in fall 2018, 95 percent of which were Hispanic (30,419) according to Excelencia’s findings. The college also awarded a grand total of 4,112 associate degrees for the 2017-2018 school year, 95 percent of which were awarded to Hispanics (3,923), placing the college second in the nation overall among associate degrees awarded.
The findings can be seen here https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/latino-college-completion.
“Twenty-five years ago, South Texas College embarked on a journey to create a college going culture for the predominately Hispanic population of the Rio Grande Valley; whereby going to and completing college was possible, affordable, and expected for all Hispanic students,” said STC President Dr. Shirley A. Reed. “This confirms South Texas College is achieving its commitment to serve the Hispanic population of the Rio Grande Valley with unparalleled success.”
The study, derived from Excelencia’s “Ensuring America’s Future: Benchmarking Latino College Completion to 2030” reports that Latino student enrollment and degree completion continues to increase. However, to reach the Latino degree attainment goal of 6.2 million degrees by 2030 requires a tactical plan for Latino college completion.
The plan should include: closing equity gaps in degree completion, and accelerating, not just increasing, Latino degree attainment, according to Excelencia.
South Texas College was previously awarded a prestigious designation by Excelencia that reaffirmed more than 25 years of creating a college-going culture for Hispanic students of the Rio Grande Valley.
STC was bestowed the inaugural Seal of Excelencia in 2019, and was the only higher education institution in the Valley at the time to receive the designation. The award was a proof of the college’s significant success in serving Latino students according to the organization.
