White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Hispanic-Serving Institutions

This executive order establishes and funds a White House Initiative within the Department of Education to advance educational equity, excellence, and economic opportunity for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and their students. It creates a formal structure—an Executive Director-led Initiative and a President’s Board of Advisors on HSIs—to identify federal programs, share best practices, improve alignment with national workforce needs (especially in STEM and teaching), and strengthen HSIs’ fiscal security and capacity. The order also mandates regular reporting on progress and requires interagency collaboration and engagement with students, HSIs, and other stakeholders. In short, the policy aims to boost federal support for HSIs, improve their ability to educate and advance Hispanic and Latino students, and integrate HSIs more fully into federal policymaking and program delivery. Background noted in the order highlights that HSIs serve a large and growing share of Hispanic/Latino students, but historically receive less per-student federal funding than other institutions and face infrastructure gaps. The initiative seeks to address these disparities while leveraging HSIs’ demonstrated capacity to promote educational and economic mobility for their communities.