Institutional Leaders from Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities Unite to Identify Financial Strategies to Successfully Prepare Students of Color
Published May 13, 2014
New Orleans, La., Feb. 10, 2010—Today, more than one hundred presidents and other key institutional stakeholders from over 40 historically and predominantly Black, Hispanic-serving, and Tribal colleges and universities are gathering together at the 2010 Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) Symposium on Financial Literacy and College Success at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), being held Feb. 10–12 at the Hilton Riverside New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, La. With the theme “Institutional Practices to Support Student Success,” the three-day event provides MSI leaders with essential financial literacy information to help alleviate common persistence issues their students often encounter.
Kicking off the symposium is Marvalene Hughes, Ph.D., president of Dillard University, who will highlight financial literacy initiatives currently in place at MSIs throughout New Orleans. Hughes will also focus on how the higher education community benefits the New Orleans community and entire Louisiana landscape, the challenges of recovering post-Katrina and recession, and the importance of strategic partnerships to support student success. Other presenters include Eduardo Padrón, president, Miami Dade College; David Beckley, president, Rust College; Carrie L. Billy, president and CEO, American Indian Higher Education Consortium; and many others.
“Almost a year after the worst financial crisis in decades, financial literacy is no longer an option; it's the core ingredient to any institutional strategy that supports financial knowledge and college retention," said IHEP President Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D. "Minority students must understand—and be confident—in handling money and must learn the 'language of money' that will likely help them to establish good budgeting behaviors and become financially fit."
Additionally, the meeting will draw attention to the variety of strategies and practices MSIs are currently engaged in to mitigate financial constraints, increase student retention, leverage strategic partnerships, diversify funding strategies, and invest in direct services. The symposium also provides an opportunity for leaders in the higher education community to renew and affirm their commitment to creating more comprehensive financial literacy strategies for students of color across the nation.
The symposium has been supported nine years consecutively by USA Funds—the nation’s largest guarantor of student loans. Highlights from this year’s symposium will be published in a comprehensive report following the event. For more information about the 2010 IHEP Symposium on Financial Literacy and College Success at Minority-Serving Institutions—“Institutional Practices to Support Student Success,” visit IHEP’s Web site at www.ihep.org.
