TAMPA, Fla. — The Biden administration is announcing new benefits for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) to boost higher educational opportunities for Latinos.

What You Need To Know

  • Biden administration announces new benefits for Hispanic Serving Institutions 

  • Diego Dulanto is for the impact this announcement will have on DACA recipients like himself

  • Republicans says they are skeptical of what this change will mean for education

A key element of the policy change is an executive order establishing “The White House initiative on advancing educational equity, excellence, and economic opportunity through HSIs.”

HSIs have Latino student populations of 25% or more in the Bay area, which includes Hillsborough Community College and Polk State College. 

HSIs educate more than 4.7 million students nationwide

Sitting at his favorite spot on the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus, Diego Dulanto is relishing the college experience. He and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Peru when he was a child.

“To be able to make it in a country where we have no resources, where we barely even spoke the language, it just means everything to me,” Dulanto said.

Dulanto is a DACA recipient and he is currently pursuing his master’s degree in public health.

“It was difficult,” he said. “But I was able to get by with the Dream scholarship, which graciously supported my undergraduate career.”

Dulanto said he supports new actions that the Biden administration say will boost educational opportunities for Latinos.

The administration says its initiative will increase federal support for HSIs, improve their financial stability and align their programs with economic needs, particularly in stem fields.

The Department of Education is also proposing a new rule expanding the trio program to make it easier for dreamers to register for college.

“There was a lot of financial strain while I was finishing my bachelor’s in psychology,” Dulanto said. “I didn’t have a lot of guidance there’s a lot of confusion with being a first-generation student, I didn’t really know what I was doing.”

But some oppose the plan calling it “political.”

Jake Hoffman is the executive director for the Tampa Bay Young Republicans.

“That’s what all presidents do before an election and I think this is something very similar, and it’s an appeal to the Latino community by throwing money at them,” he said. “You know, my worry is that this is an indoctrination camp, basically you’re coming into America, ‘Hey here, go to this liberal school that teaches how to think like us and don’t listen to the Republican side.’”

However, Dulanto said the initiative could provide both educational and economic opportunities for students like him. He said he’s hoping a good education will be the foundation of his American dream.

Dulanto said “since we are first-generation students, why can’t we be the first in everything else, you know, we’ve made it this far.”