Farmingdale State College has received two U.S. Department of Education designations, making it both a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution(AANAPISI) .
These designations are for higher education institutions that enroll populations with significant percentages of undergraduate minority students.
Institutions awarded these designations are eligible for increased federal funding for programs to recruit and retain minority undergraduate students that will assist them from admission to graduation.
Farmingdale State was awarded the HSI, having achieved a full-time undergraduate enrollment of Hispanic students that is more than 25 percent of the student body. It was designated a AANAPISI), with an enrollment of undergraduate students that is at least 10 percent Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander.
“This couples with our designation as a Higher Education Excellence and Diversity (HEED) campus, which we received in Summer 2022,” John Nader, president of Farmingdale State, said in a statement.
“The diversity of our student body is a point of pride for all of us at FSC,” he added. “It’s not just the color of people’s skin, but about who feels included in our institution and receives access to the opportunities that we offer. It makes us stronger and deepens our breadth of cultures and perspectives in our programs.”
The percentage of students at Farmingdale State who identify as Hispanic or Latino has more than doubled over the past ten years from 1,100 in 2012 to 2,542 in 2022, according to the college. As the fastest growing population of any racial or ethnic group at FSC, students identifying as Hispanic or Latino now comprise 27% of the student population, up from 14% in 2012. Similarly, the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders population at FSC has risen from 560 in 2012 to 1,119 in 2022 with the sharpest increase among Asian students, at 111%.
Going forward, Farmingdale expects to submit a DOE application that would seek increased federal funding for programs to increase recruitment and retention among Hispanic students, which Nader says is part of the changing demographics of not just the FSC student body, but of Long Island overall. The funding is expected to enhance the student experience and programs to support their success as well as participate in applied learning experiences.
“Farmingdale is a true mix of backgrounds and ethnicities, representative of the changing demographics of our region,” Nader said.
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