Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are colleges and universities serving a large percentage of minority students.The Higher Education Act stipulates that ethnic minorities must represent more than 50% of total enrollment at these institutions. Typically, this numeric majority is made up a combination of ethnic minority groups rather than a single group.
The Higher Education Act (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1067k(3)) defines “minority” and “minority institution” as follows:
The term ‘‘minority’’ means American Indian, Alaskan Native, Black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic (including per-sons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central or South American origin), Pacific Islander or other ethnic group under-represented in science and engineering.
The term ‘‘minority institution’’ means an institution of higher education whose enrollment of a single minority or a combination of minorities exceeds 50 percent of the total enrollment.
It is important to note that this list does not include Asians unless an individual also identifies as one of the minorities listed above. Although classified as a minority group, Asians are not considered to be a minority under this program, because studies show that they are not underrepresented in science and engineering.
A complete list of "Minority Serving Institutions" can be found at:
Based upon these guidelines as determined by the Department of Education, the Alamogordo campus, Carlsbad campus, Doña Ana campus, Grants campus and Las Cruces campus all qualify as Minority Serving Institutions as of Fall 2021.
