Washington, DC – This week through Sept. 29, SEARAC celebrates Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions(AANAPISI) Week, which honors the achievements of AANAPISIs and Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander (AA & NHPI) students who have benefited from attending these institutions.
Since its founding, AANAPISIs have served thousands of first-generation and low-income students, including Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs). AANAPISIs provide targeted resources and culturally responsive programs and services to help AA & NHPI students succeed in college. They also play a significant role in fostering diversity and educational equity on college campuses.
“SEARAC is proud to have contributed to the push for the creation of AANAPISIs almost two decades ago,” said Quyên Đinh, Executive Director of SEARAC. “AANAPISIs promote equity in higher education through providing targeted support to Southeast Asian American and other underrepresented AA & NHPI students. AANAPISIs enroll nearly half of AA & NHPI students in the United States and prepare this next generation of students to serve and lead. We join our education partners in elevating the contributions of these essential institutions.”
In addition to supporting the academic success of AA & NHPI students, AANAPISIs provide opportunities to acknowledge the unique challenges that AA & NHPI communities have encountered throughout US history as well as present day. Many AA & NHPI students face financial, language, cultural or other barriers in attaining a postsecondary education. For many Southeast Asian American students, their families’ experiences with escaping war and violence have impacted their educational outcomes.
A quarter of SEAAs do not have a high school diploma, compared to 12% of the total population. An additional 42% of Cambodian, 44% of Hmong, 48% of Lao, and 37% of Vietnamese American high school graduates have not continued on to earn their bachelor’s degree.
SEARAC supports the call from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) for increased funding of AANAPISIs and to expand programming to serve as many AA & NHPI students as possible.
