As the number of Hispanic/Latino students enrolled in higher education continues to grow, the institutions that serve them are also continually expanding and redefining themselves. In the Top 100 issue, Hispanic Outlook recognizes the higher education institutions across the country that enroll the highest number of Hispanic/Latino students, as well as those where students from this community make up a large proportion of the total student body. It is especially important to honor the work of these institutions over the course of a pandemic year that has been marked by unprecedented challenges, particularly for minority students. All the lists on the following pages provide a clear picture of the specific institutions across the nation that serve Hispanic/Latino students, conferring degrees across different levels and preparing them in diverse fields of study.

Among 2-year institutions, in 2019-20 the top three in terms of enrollment of Hispanic/Latino students (with more than 28,000 each) were East Los Angeles College, El Paso Community College and Houston Community College. Altogether, the top ten 2-year institutions served nearly 250,000 Hispanic/Latino students, representing a key pipeline for employment across multiple sectors. Each one of the institutions in this top 100 list has more than 6,000 Hispanic/Latino students enrolled, with more than half of them (57) located in California, followed by Texas (13) and Illinois (8).  In terms of Hispanic/Latino students as a proportion of total enrollment, four colleges on this list were more than 80% Hispanic/Latino:  Texas Southmost College (94%), Imperial Valley College (90%), Southwest Texas Junior College (86%) and El Paso Community College (84%).

Among 4-year institutions, in 2019-20 the top ten served more than 382,000 Hispanic/Latino students altogether, with each of the top three – Miami Dade College, Dallas College and Florida International University - enrolling more than 47,000 students from this community. The institutions in the top 100 list are located across the country, in 17 states ranging from California (36 schools) and Texas (20) to Florida (15) and New York (7).  Five institutions on this list had a student body primarily composed of Hispanic/Latino students (more than 80% of total enrollment): Laredo College (97%), The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (90%), Texas A & M International University (89%), The University of Texas at El Paso (81%) and Florida National University – Main Campus (81%). It is also notable that more Hispanic women than men were enrolled at all the top 100 institutions on this list, with only four exceptions. Indeed, female enrollment was often several thousand more than male enrollment.

In the 2019-20 academic year, the institutions that awarded the largest number of associate degrees to Hispanic/Latino students were Miami Dade College and South Texas College, and the top schools in terms of associate degrees awarded to Hispanic/Latino students as a proportion of all associate degrees granted were Laredo College (98%) and Imperial Valley College (91%).

Florida International University and California State University - Northridge awarded the largest number of bachelor’s degrees to Hispanic/Latino students, while Texas A & M International University and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley had the largest percentage of these degrees awarded to Hispanic/Latino students (with 95% and 90% of all degrees respectively). Regarding graduate studies, Florida International University and Grand Canyon University stand out for conferring the largest number of master’s degrees to Hispanic/Latino students (more than 1,800 each), while Miami Regional University and Texas A & M International University had the largest proportion of master’s degrees awarded to this community (95% and 86% of the total master’s degrees awarded). 

2019 - 2020  Total Enrollment 2-Year Schools

2019 - 2020  Total Enrollment 4-Year Schools

2019 - 2020  Total Associate Degrees Granted

2019-2020 Total Bachelor's Degrees Granted

2019-2020 Total Master's Degrees Granted

Top 10 Schools By Major