Texas State certified with Seal of Excelencia

By Preethi Mangadu

Chief Editor of News

Texas State University received the Seal of Excelencia in 2022 from Excelencia in Education last Friday.

The seal is granted based on the data, practices and leadership that serve and support Latino students. The Seal of Excelencia framework is based on over 20 years of research and work with institutions to use as an institutional self-assessment. A university that intentionally serves its Latino student population can apply for the seal, which will be valid for three years after certification.

At the 2022 Seal of Excelencia announcement in Washington D.C., five other institutions were certified, and nine others were recertified.

“We’ve been at this for four years, and the seal was created because we wanted to be able to tell that story and show that there was leadership across this country that is doing well and right by students that is showing they are places where Latino students thrive,” CEO of Excelencia in Education Deborah Santiago said during the 2022 Seal of Excelencia announcement.

The application process involved a 43-page application with questions about strategies to serve Hispanic students, retention, institutional support, pandemic response, strategies, recruitment and more. Many programs and services were featured in the applications such as Fall 2021 Latino student enrollment increasing by 301, Texas State recruiters living and working in areas with bigger Latino populations, Bobcat Promise, Bring Bobcats Back and more.

Texas State University currently has 40.5% of individuals in the student population that identify as Hispanic and/or Latino, according to the university. The university is now one of 30 institutions with the Seal of Excelencia.

“Texas state is not merely a Hispanic-enrolling institution. We’re proud of the fact that we are designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and now the Seal of Excelencia is one of our greatest points of pride. It validates that our approach to Student Success makes a difference,” said President Kelly Damphousse at the 2022 Seal of Excelencia announcement. “We see our impact in the data. We see it in the enrollment retention and graduation rates of Hispanic students and of all students, but most importantly, we see it in the faces of our students and their loved ones beaming with pride at graduation.”

Excelencia in Education began in 2004 to increase effective strategies and programs to improve the number of Latino students completing university and going into the workforce. They strive to keep institutions educated to reform policies based on the fast-growing Latino population in postsecondary education.

For more information, visit Excelencia in Education’s website.