Money isn’t Free: A Systematic Content Analysis of Hispanic-Serving Community Colleges Title V Awardees Proposals

Amid public divestment in higher
education, grant acquisition is increasingly critical for colleges and
universities, especially Hispanic-serving community colleges (HSCCs). We
conducted a content analysis of 400 HSCC Title V awardee proposal abstracts and
found that these awardees ground their proposals in the needs of their local
communities but often still pitch race-evasive projects. At the same time, we
also discovered that in recent years, these successful applicants began invoking
the language of “servingness,” promisingly suggesting that some HSCCs are
attempting to leverage this money to intentionally support Latine/x students.
However, the Department of Education’s competitive preference priorities, alongside
its race-evasive evaluation criteria, may undercut the extent to which HSIs,
including HSCCs, advance servingness with this funding. Ultimately, the
findings support the need to reform this public program, particularly
considering the ongoing institutional diversification of the HSI population.

Keywords:
Hispanic-Serving Institutions; Community Colleges; Title V; grants