Glossary

The Glossary: Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Hispanic-Serving Institution is an official designation from the US Department of Education. (Higher Education Act, Title V, as amended in 1992, to be more precise.) Unlike HBCU, another official status, the definition has nothing to do with who a school has historically served, but only the current student population. A college need not have always been an HSI to become one. A few colleges were intentionally founded to serve Hispanic students, but most HSIs grew to the status through strategy, geography, or both. Not surprisingly, most HSIs are in areas with larger Hispanic populations, places like California, Puerto Rico, and Texas.

To be categorized as an HSI, a college must meet a few basic criteria (like being a degree-granting, non-profit school) and have a student body that is at least 25% Hispanic. But that’s the key fact, being more than a quarter Hispanic. HSIs include four-year colleges and also community colleges.

Once a college passes the 25% Hispanic mark, then it can apply for the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation. This official status gives it marketing and recruiting power, since Hispanics makes up the largest ethnic minority in the US and are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country. Before Covid took over as the most-discussed topic in higher education (and the whole world), a lot of the big conversations in higher ed were about demographic shifts and how well colleges would be able to recruit and retain Hispanic students. The HSI designation also allows colleges to apply for special grants and other federal funding.

Why might it be important to you that a school is an HSI? If you are Hispanic yourself* and would like to make sure you go to a college with a concentration of other Hispanic students, then checking a college’s HSI status may be really important to you. If so, you may want to look farther than just “official” HSI list. There are also schools who meet the 25% threshold but haven’t finished the approval process yet. There are also some schools that are very close to the 25% line. All these are called “emerging” HSIs.

Obviously you don’t have to be Hispanic to care about diversity, and anyone may want to check a college’s HSI status before applying. But remember that HSI designation only has to do with numbers and the percentage of students who identify as Hispanic. It doesn’t necessarily say anything about the institutional values of a college, how diverse the non-Hispanic population is, or the experiences you can expect. You’ll need to look more deeply to get a feeling for those more qualitative things.

For a list of Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Exelecnia in Education has an up-to-date list plus some basic stats.

For a robust list that includes HSIs, emerging HSIs, and unofficial HSIs, go to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, which was instrumental in getting the original HSI legislation passed.

*I’m using the word “Hispanic” because it’s the term used by the Department of Education and other federal programs. I’m not intentionally overlooking or excluding you if you identify as Latina/o/x or Chicano/a.

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  2. Check out these related Apply with Sanity posts:

    The Glossary: HBCU

    What’s wrong with Affirmative Action?

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The Glossary: Colleges that Change Lives

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First there was a book. In 1996, journalist and independent college counselor Loren Pope published Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should Know About Even If You’re Not a Straight-A Student. The idea was to highlight colleges that weren’t as famous and prestigious as Ivy League universities or other “elite” New England liberal arts colleges but that delivered the same—or better—personalized and life-changing education. It’s now in its fourth edition.

Later came the organization. The 40 colleges named in the book formed a non-profit organization to champion liberal arts colleges and help students find a good fit. It’s an antidote to reliance on rankings and the “prestige anxiety” that often comes with rankings. Even though Colleges that Change Lives was prompted by the book and named for the book, the group is completely independent. It has no relationship with Pope’s estate (he died in 2008) or the book’s publisher. Likewise, all the member colleges of CTCL are independent institutions. They just contribute to the organization.

CTCL does several things. It is a loud and thoughtful voice in the drive to make college admission more about a student-centered fit and less about elitism-centered prestige rankings. It provides resources to students, parents, and schools about making wise college decisions.

Probably the most important thing CTCL does for students is provide profiles of their member schools. It’s a good way to get to know some smaller colleges that you may not have heard of if you don’t live near them. CTCL also offers scholarships for students attending member schools.

Who are the member schools? There are now 44 of them. They are all small liberal arts colleges. Small in that they range in size from around 100 students to around 3,000 students. Most are in the 1,000-2,000 range. They are liberal arts colleges in that they focus on undergraduate teaching. For contrast, think of a flagship public university like the University of Michigan. It has over 30,000 undergraduate students, and it also has 180 different graduate degree programs. Liberal arts college doesn’t mean they don’t have STEM programs, nor does it mean that the college is liberal in terms of politics.

If I talk to a student or client who seems interested in a large, comprehensive university, I don’t try to steer them towards Colleges that Change Lives. Small liberal arts colleges aren’t for everyone. But if I’m working with someone who does seem interested in that kind of school, especially if they’re undecided about a major, then I definitely want them to spend time looking at CTCL and the member colleges. I live and work in a very large city, and most of the students I work with want to be in—or at least near—a metropolitan area. They stay away from the “tiny college in the middle of nowhere” stereotype. But many of the CTCL colleges are in urban areas. And none of them are, in reality, in a spot with nothing but cornfields for miles around.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

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  2. Check out these related Apply with Sanity posts:

    The Glossary: Liberal Arts College

    The Glossary: Public University

    The Glossary: HBCU

    The Glossary: Ivy

  3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

Colleges that Change Lives is an independent organization which does not endorse or have a relationship with Apply with Sanity. It neither sponsored nor contributed to this content.

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The Glossary: HBCU

HBCU stands for Historically Black College or University. It’s not just an informal title; there’s a legal definition from the Higher Education Act of 1965:

any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation.

Some of the more nationally-known HBCUs include Howard University in Washington, D.C., Morehouse College and Spelman College, both in Atlanta, and Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. The Department of Education lists 102 currently operating HBCUs. Usually recognized as the first HBCU, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1837. There are public and private HBCUs, and they are primarily concentrated in the South, where many were formed during Reconstruction.

While HBCUs have educating Black Americans as their “principal mission,” they are not discriminatory and admit other students, both non-Black Americans and international students. Looking at the schools I’ve already mentioned, the percentage of Black or African American students ranges from 73% at Howard to 97% at Spelman. A number of HBCUs are actively recruiting Hispanic and Latino students. You will find some White students at some HBCUs, but not many.

What are the advantages of attending an HBCU? Smaller size is one. The largest of them tops out at around 10,000 undergraduate students, and keeping a low student-faculty ratio is a priority for many of them. While every university likes to think of itself as a community, many HBCUS, with their smaller size and focus on educating a distinct group, truly are a community.

There’s also in immense amount of tradition and pride in the HBCU community. HBCUs come with a sense of belonging. That pride was quite clear in Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration parade with the Howard marching band, and HBCU tradition was a central theme of Beyonce’s amazing Homecoming performance. But it’s not just backs and performances. 25% of Black Americans with STEM degrees earn them from HBCUs.

Another huge part of the HBCU experience to be a safe and welcoming space for African American students. It’s a place to be among other Black students, with Black professors and administrators, in a Black community. With the increased cultural and racial conflicts of the past four years, enrollment at most HBCUs has increased too. Spelman just broke their record for number of applications, and Forbes magazine explained “Four Reasons Why 2020 Was the Year of the HBCU.”

Are there disadvantages to attending an HBCU? One descriptor you often see in front of “HBCUs” is “underfunded.” According to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, “More than 75% of students at HBCUs rely on Pell Grants and nearly 13% rely on PLUS Loans to meet their college expenses. HBCUs have 1/8 of the average size of endowments than historically white colleges and universities.” So HBCUS typically don’t have the balance of wealthy and non-wealthy students to balance their annual tuition income, and the schools themselves don’t have the deep savings to keep things running as smoothly. Publicly-funded HBCUs, while receiving tax dollars to help fund the school, are sometimes battling for their continued existence. Sometimes this is an unintended consequence of good intentions, like larger flagship state universities working harder to attract Black students and then necessarily drawing from the pool that might attend an HBCU. Sometimes it’s an effect of more direct intention, with people making the argument that HBCUs are “no longer necessary.”

While any student considering any college should make sure the school is fiscally sound and not likely to go away before you have a chance to graduate, that is especially true of HBCUs.

Where can you learn more about HBCUs?

This page from the Aspen Institute has a lot of resources.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is dedicated to funding HBCUs and organizing HBCU alumni.

The US Department of Education has a ton of resources on HBCUs.

Teen Vogue breaks down nine misconceptions about HBCUs.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

  1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

  2. Check out these related Glossary entries: Ivy, Liberal Arts College, Public University.

  3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

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The Glossary: public universities

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The Glossary: public universities

When it comes to college admissions, it seems like private, “elite” schools get all the attention. The Ivy League schools, Stanford, M.I.T., University of Chicago, places like that. But almost three fourths of U.S. college students are at public institutions, not private ones.

A while back I asked a question on my personal Facebook page:

Plenty of public education advocates—including myself—think nothing of sending their children to private universities. I’ve heard none of the arguments for keeping all children in public schools used for keeping all young adults in public colleges. I wonder why that is? Do you have any thoughts on our different attitude when it comes to higher education? Let me know!

One of the responses I got, which I wasn’t expecting, is that a lot of people probably don’t fully understand the difference between public and private universities. It’s not always easy to tell the difference (more on that below). Both are expensive and difficult, and neither guarantees you admission, much less success. So let’s talk about public colleges and universities.

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The Glossary: test optional

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The Glossary: test optional

If a college or university is “test optional,” that simply means that they do not require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their application. Students may submit scores, and many do submit scores, but they are not required to submit scores. There are three good reasons for a student to apply to a test-optional school and decide not to submit test scores:

1. The student didn’t take the SAT or ACT, so they don’t have any scores to submit.

2. The student took the SAT and/or ACT, but they don’t think the scores are a good refection of them as a student.

3. The student wants to take a stand against standardized testing by supporting test-optional programs and increasing the number of applications submitted without test scores.

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The Glossary: the basics

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The Glossary: the basics

I want to go over the basic terminology necessary to understand college applications. So many of us—college consultants, high school counselors, teachers, parents, university admissions departments—take it for granted that our students are completely aware of all the terms and lingo, even though the terms are rarely actually taught. If you’re trying to be a first-generation college student, came to this country recently and are new to the system, and/or go to a high school that doesn’t emphasize college preparedness, then some (or a lot) if this may be understandably new.

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The Glossary: liberal arts college

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The Glossary: liberal arts college

In my own practice I tend to talk about three main types of colleges: “liberal arts colleges” (I say “liberal arts schools” just as often), “big state schools,” and “national private universities.” There are no clear lines between the three, there’s plenty of overlap, and I’m leaving out some (like trade schools, art schools, and other specialized schools). But those three get me through most of my conversations just fine.

One of the most commonly used terms is liberal arts college. What does that mean?

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The Glossary: gap year

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The Glossary: gap year

The first time I heard a student tell me he was taking a gap year, I got the completely wrong idea. Having never heard the term before, I thought he was trying to find a way to say that he didn’t finish college applications and was going to have to try again the next year. Kind of like “in between jobs” is sometimes a euphemism for “unemployed,” I thought “gap year” was a euphemism for “didn’t get into college.” But I was wrong. Very wrong.

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The Glossary: gapping

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The Glossary: gapping

Gapping is an informal financial aid term. It has to do with colleges offering less financial aid than they believe you need. After you fill out your FAFSA form (and possibly your CSS Profile), you will get a dollar amount called your E.F.C., or Expected Family Contribution. This is how much the government formula says your family should be expected to pay for college. The cost of a university, minus the EFC, is your need. If a university offers you less than your need in financial aid, then there is a gap. They’ve gapped you. You’ve been gapped. This is what gapping is all about.

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The Glossary: expected family contribution

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The Glossary: expected family contribution

Your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, is the amount of money you and/or your family are expected to pay for your college education per year. The U.S. Department of Education, using the financial information submitted on your FAFSA, runs the numbers though a complicated formula and determines the "official" amount of money you can afford to pay for college. The formula they use is publicly available, and it is not negotiable. 

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The Glossary: undermatched

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The Glossary: undermatched

Undermatched is the term for students who go to a college that is less selective and elite than what they could get accepted to. If you could get into one of the 20 most selective colleges but don't apply to any of them, then you are undermatched. If you probably would not get accepted to any of those (and most of us can't), but could still be accepted to one of the 200 most selective colleges but don't apply, then you're still undermatched. It has to do with the difference between where you could be accepted to versus where you actually apply.

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The Glossary: summer melt

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The Glossary: summer melt

Summer melt refers to the students who graduate high school planning on going to college in the fall...but don't make it. It's hard to count exactly how many people this includes--it depends on who you ask, and how you define "planning on going to college"--but most estimates for high school graduates who change their plans over the first summer are between 10% and 40%. That's a lot of melting students! The majority of students affected by summer melt are low-income and/or first-generation, but it happens to some extent across the board. 

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The Glossary: rolling admissions

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The Glossary: rolling admissions

Rolling admissions means that universities assess your application on a first-come, first-served basis when they get it. There is usually no final deadline to apply. You just send in your application when it's ready, they have a look, and they get back to you fairly soon--usually around four weeks. Most--but not all--of the schools that have rolling admissions are large, state schools. They are large and robust enough to just look at each application as it comes in and decide if you're admissible or not without trying to "craft a community" or compare you to their other options. Some of the universities with rolling admissions are places you've probably heard of, like Penn State, Michigan State, and Arizona State. If you're looking at a college that has rolling admissions, especially if you're looking for a college because it has rolling admissions, there are a few things to understand.

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The Glossary: need blind

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The Glossary: need blind

There are currently around 100 colleges and universities in the U.S. that claim to offer need-blind admissions. Need blind sounds really great, but what exactly does it mean?

Need blind means that the school's admissions staff don't take your financial situation into account when they consider whether to accept or deny you. Your ability to pay isn't a factor. It does not mean that they don't know anything about your financial situation.

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The Glossary: early action

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The Glossary: early action

Early Action is just like regular admissions...only you do it earlier. You have an earlier deadline, and you get an answer back early. Whereas most regular application deadlines are somewhere around January 1, most Early Action deadlines are around October 1. And instead of getting a decision back in March, you get it in December. It's not Early Decision--you aren't committed to going to the school if you get accepted. You have until May 1 to make your decision, and you're welcome to turn them down even though they accepted you Early Action.

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The Glossary: early decision

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The Glossary: early decision

Not all universities offer an Early Decision option, and each one might have its own fun little stipulations and rules. But the basic idea of Early Decision is that you turn in your application early, you get a decision from the school early, and if you get accepted you agree to go there and withdraw any other applications you may have also sent. This requirement that you enroll if you're accepted is why Early Decision is usually referred to as "binding." Early Decision is often confused with Early Action, which I'll write about separately next week. But for today, remember that Early Decision is exactly what it sounds like: you decide early that you really want to go this school; they decide early if they're going to accept you; if they do, then it's decided--early--that you will definitely go there.


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The Glossary: holistic admissions

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The Glossary: holistic admissions

Most American universities use some form of holistic admissions to determine who they will invite to enroll at their school. "Holistic" means that they look at the whole applicant and the whole application, and it usually means they look at the whole application together. There are no cut-off test scores; there is no formula for how to score and weight each portion of the application; there is no "magic bullet" that will earn you admission or get you rejected. This means that you can't necessarily make sense of the results by only looking at a part, because they take the whole into consideration. So a person may get accepted while someone with lower test scores does not. A person who writes a really crappy essay may still get accepted if the other parts of the application look great. 

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The Glossary: demonstrated interest

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The Glossary: demonstrated interest

Demonstrated interest is a term you'll hear often when people talk about college admissions. It means, well, exactly what it says: you've demonstrated that you're interested in a college you've applied to.

It seems like it should be obvious that you're interested if you've applied, but that's not necessarily the case. University admissions staff know that you may have applied because you really want to be there. They know that you may have applied because it's your safety school and not actually someplace you want to be if you can help it. They know that you may have applied because your boyfriend, girlfriend, or best friend applied, and you're actually kind of secretly hoping that you don't get in. They know that your family may have pressured you to apply. They know that you may actually have no idea why you applied--that happens all the time.

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The Glossary: Ivy

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The Glossary: Ivy

So what makes the Ivy League schools so special? A few things. One is that they're old, so they've had a lot more time than many universities to differentiate themselves. Harvard is the oldest college in the U.S., founded in 1636. Cornell is the young one of the league, founded in 1865. The other six were all founded in the 18th century.