Excelencia in Education, the nation’s premier authority on efforts accelerating Latino student success in higher education, announced today UC Riverside has been certified with the Seal of Excelencia in 2021.

The national announcement was made this morning by Excelencia in Education during a press conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. James Kvaal, the U.S. Department of Education under secretary, delivered remarks. UCR is one of just 10 institutions nationwide to earn Seal of Excelencia certification this year. 

The 2021 cohort of 10 institutions join a group of 14 other Seal certified institutions previously honored for their commitment to serve Latino students.

“This certification recognizes our institutional commitment as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) to serve Latinx students and support their success,” said UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox, who was in D.C. to receive the honor on behalf of UCR and noted UCR was also named this year a U.S. Department of State Fulbright HSI Leader. “As the only UC school to receive both honors, I am grateful to the faculty and staff whose decades-long dedication to serving Latinx students has elevated UCR to an elite category of HSIs.”

Deborah Santiago, co-founder and CEO of Excelencia in Education, said: “UC Riverside and the Seal-certified institutions articulated and demonstrated they are modeling the behavior we need to see to accelerate Latino student success. They are having measurable impact in changing the face of higher education.”

The 135 presidents and chancellors of the 170 institutions in the organization’s network, Presidents for Latino Students Success, enroll one in four of all Latino students in higher education. These institutions account for one in three of all Latino graduates.

An institution earns the Seal by demonstrating alignment across the three core areas of data, practice, and leadership:
●    Evidence of effectiveness and intentionality in institutional practices serving Latino students
●    Positive momentum for Latino student progress in their data 
●    Dedication to transforming the institution into an environment where Latino students thrive
●    Strategies in leadership that clearly articulate institutional focus on advancing Latino student success

The other 2021 Seal certified institutions are: 
●    California State University, Fresno
●    California State University, Fullerton
●    Miami Dade College
●    San Diego State University 
●    Texas A&M University – San Antonio 
●    University of California, Merced 
●    University of Central Florida 
●    University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 
●    Wilbur Wright College

The Seal is part of Excelencia’s systemic approach to close the education equity gap, meet a goal of 6.2 million Latino students attaining college degrees by 2030, and support America’s civic and workforce needs by effectively preparing Latinos.

Excelencia began Seal certification in 2019. For more information, visit: https://www.edexcelencia.org