In late September, elected officials and higher education leaders gathered in Washington, DC to honor the 2015 Examples of Excelencia, America’s top evidence- based programs that increase higher education achievement for Latino students.

 

Celebrating its 10th year, Examples of Excelencia, conceived and run by non-profit Excelencia in Education, is a national initiative that identifies and promotes evidence-based programs and departments that effectively boost Latino enrollment, performance, and graduation. Over the past decade, Examples of Excelencia has reviewed more than 1,300 program nominations and recognized over 150 programs across the nation.

 

The following programs were selected as 2015 Examples of Excelencia:

 

Associate Level: Early High Schools Program, South Texas College, McAllen, TX

 

Bachelor Level: STEM Program, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, CA

 

Graduate Level: Hispanic Center of Excellence, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL

 

Community-Based Organization: Nine-Week Parent En - gagement in Education Program, Parent Institute for Quality Education, National City, CA

 

Examples of Excelencia was inspired by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s 1999 Convening on Latino Youth, a historic, first-ever White House gathering that resulted in the publication, “What Works for Latino Youth.” To recognize this year’s anniversary, Clinton produced a special video tribute that premiered during today’s program.

 

“The programs being recognized today contribute to a decade of sustained effort to identify, support, and grow programs that demonstrate through evidence and data they are at the forefront of improving higher educational achievement for Latino students,” says Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education.

 

“Since being chosen as one of the Examples of Excelencia in 2008, our program has expanded, now having served nearly 2,500 students with over 70 percent being the first in their family to attend college,” says Dr. Richard Cherwitz, founder and director of the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin. “Best of all, we were able to leverage the Examples of Excelencia recognition to obtain over $300,000 of funding and support.“

 

Examples of Excelencia is presented in collaboration with the Congressional Hispanic Cau cus. The 2015 sponsors include ACT, Comcast NBCUniversal, Telemundo, Univision, DeVry Education Group, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, the Edwin Gould Foundation, PG&E Corporation, and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE).

 

Launched in 2004 in the nation’s capital, Excelencia in Eductiion is building a network of results-oriented educators and policymakers to address the US’ economy’s need for a highly educated workforce and engaged civic leadership. For more information, visit: www.EdExcelencia.org

 

For complete descriptions of each program, including metrics of their success, download the 2015 What Works for Latino Students in Higher Education Compendium at the following site: www.edexcelencia.org/growing-what-works