Of the roughly 65,000 students who entrust Valencia College each year with their education, 42% -- or about 27,300 students-- identify as Hispanic, the largest racial/ethnic group at the college. Actually, most would call themselves proud Boricuas, reflecting the population of about 385,000 Puerto Ricans who reside in Central Florida. Colombianos, Venezolanos, Cubanos, Dominicanos, and Mexicanos are also well represented.
Our current Hispanic population reflects steady growth since 2011, when Latinx students represented about 30% of our student population. But at Valencia College, being a Hispanic Serving Institution and truly serving Latinx students is not about enrollment. Far more than a program or initiative, being an HSI is inextricable from our Valencia mission and highest institutional priorities.
While this has always been the case, recent demographic shifts combined with COVID disruptions have increased the stakes and our sense of urgency. From college access to graduation, transfer, and the attainment of career credentials, our comprehensive strategy aims to help our students and community leverage the power of education for individual and collective prosperity. And it acknowledges explicitly that we can only do so if we create the conditions in which even more of our Latinx students can thrive.
Helping Osceola County Hispanics Prosper
Looking back, several of the strategic efforts that have made the biggest difference for the local Hispanic community have focused on increasing college access and have been implemented in Osceola County, one of the two counties we serve (the other, Orange County). This is at least in part because about 56% of residents of Osceola County identify as Latinx. For a variety of reasons, the county has historically had one of the lowest college-going rates in the state of Florida. In fact, in 2010, Osceola County ranked 61st out of the 67 counties in Florida in terms of the percentage of high school graduates who continued their education at a post-secondary institution.
In partnership with the School District of Osceola County and the Education Foundation of Osceola County, Valencia launched an effort called “Got College?” which aimed to significantly increase the college-going rate of students in Osceola County. Strategies included hosting bilingual community information sessions validating not only that we welcomed students and families at Valencia, but that we knew they could succeed here. Valencia student ambassadors were real-life examples of college going and success. They told elementary, middle, and high school students about the strengths they brought to Valencia, as well as the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. By 2019, Osceola was ranked 19th in the state.
Fast forward to March of 2022, when community colleges across the country saw enrollment declines, and it was reported that Hispanic student enrollment across the country fell by seven percent between fall 2019 and fall 2021—despite a decade of growth. Knowing that Osceola County was struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic, Valencia reached out to county leaders to imagine partnership ideas that could stem the tide of the enrollment decline and keep students from getting locked out of future economic opportunities.
The result was the Osceola Prosper program, which we co-developed with our county partners. The Commission gave all 2022 high school graduates in the county the greatest graduation gift of all: free college! Osceola Prosper supports attendance at Valencia College or the county technical school, a more than $12 million investment. During Prosper Nights sessions, students came to our campuses with their parents, abuelas, brothers, and sisters to hear English and Spanish versions of what Osceola Prosper entails, have their questions answered, and even complete their applications. Some of them told us that the program had given them hope in a time of continued distress and uncertainty. Nearly 2,500 students have expressed interest in the program, and Valencia’s Prosper Coaches are spending their summer months helping many students identify their academic pathways and sign up for classes.
Ensuring Varied Pathways to Student Learning and Success
At Valencia, we know that enrolling in college is just the beginning. It is thus our responsibility to help students meet their goals: whether it’s securing our Associate in Arts Degree and transferring to a university, transitioning to one of our baccalaureate programs, attaining one of our Associate in Science degrees, earning a career credential aligned with our regional workforce needs, and/or enrolling in a short-term training program. Regarding overall graduation, we are proud to have been recognized by Excelencia in Education as 5th in the nation for Top Institutions Awarding Associates Degrees to Hispanics.
Given that many of the fastest growing occupations require higher levels of postsecondary education and that so many Hispanic students begin their college journeys at their local community college, it seems important to highlight our transfer partnership with the University of Central Florida (UCF). Introduced in 2006, the DirectConnect to UCF partnership guarantees admission to UCF for any student who completes an Associate in Arts degree from Valencia. Open to all students, DirectConnect places emphasis on the student experience, smooth transition from college to the university, shared use of facilities, and even curricular alignment. Latinx students have told us that seeing a UCF presence on our Valencia campuses helps them trust the university and feel that they will be safe there if they decide to transfer.
Since 2007, more than 40,000 Valencia graduates have transferred to UCF as part of DirectConnect, about 30% of whom identified as Hispanic. In 2020-2021, 28% of UCF’s Latinx graduates had transferred from Valencia.
What will we do next to truly serve our Latinx students? Improve our communication so that it’s culturally responsive and asset based; continue partnering with faculty and Hispanic students on the use of equity-minded teaching practices; and strengthen our career development and advising efforts, among many other actions.
Each Latinx student who enrolls at Valencia College enriches us with their strengths and honors us with their trust. It is on us to deliver on the promise of a college education.
Author Bio
Isis Artze-Vega, Ed.D., serves as college provost and vice president for academic affairs at Valencia College in Central Florida. Prior to joining Valencia, Isis served as assistant vice president for teaching and learning at Florida International University (FIU) and taught English composition and enrollment management at the University of Miami. Fun fact: Before that, Isis worked as a freelance writer for several publications, including this one (when it was the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education). *Note: In the profile above, she uses the terms Hispanic and Latinx interchangeably to acknowledge the limitations of any one descriptor and mentions students’ country of origin since most prefer to describe themselves in this way.
