Excelencia in Education just released this important publication about the context of higher education in Puerto Rico.
Overview
“Excelencia in Education conducted an environmental scan of Puerto Rico to better understand the community and context of higher education as colleges and universities transform to better serve their Latino students. This environmental scan identifies and includes a profile of the community overall, the socio-economic profile and educational pipeline, and the condition of institutions of higher education over the past several years. The context of colleges and universities to enroll, retain, and graduate their Latino (and all) students can help to understand institutional resiliency during times of crisis. This can help inform efforts to support institutions and students on the island and other institutions on the U.S. mainland so they can better serve their Latino and all students during economic, political, and natural challenges. This publication is the first of a two-part study on transformation by colleges and universities to better serve their Latino and all students in Puerto Rico and will be in partnership with the Puerto Rico Endowment for the Humanities (La Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades). This publication was developed with the support of Ascendium Education Group”.
Here are some important highlights:
HIGHER EDUCATION IN PUERTO RICO
• The majority of colleges and universities are 4-year institutions.
• Public 4-year universities are more selective than private, not-for-profit 4-year universities.
• In Fall 2018, the top 5 institutions in Puerto Rico enrolling Latino undergraduate students were all 4-years, including two Ana G. Mendez campuses and two University of Puerto Rico campuses.
• Full-time retention rates in Puerto Rico have increased in the last 15 years, despite drops in enrollment, and are higher than the national retention rate for Latinos.
• The majority of grant aid students receive are federal Pell Grants, and the amount of the Pell Grant award students receive has increased in the last 10 years.
• The cost of attendance across all sectors has been increasing over the last 20 years, and there is a significant gap between students’ cost of attendance and the grant aid they receive.
• Private institutions have relied on tuition and fees as their main source of revenue, while public institutions have mainly relied on state and local funding. Public institutions’ expenditures are significantly higher than expenditures at private institutions.
• In the last 20 years, there has been a 40% increase in total certificates and degrees awarded (from 31,469 to 44,137).
• Graduation rates have been rising at private 4-year institutions but have remained relatively stagnant at public 4-year institutions.
You can access the publication through the following link:
Karen D. Centeno, MIS 