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College students at 14 Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in New Mexico and Texas were surveyed about their experiences in and perceptions of higher education. Three primary foci were students’ employment status, work commitments, and means of financing college. Most of the informants reported working while in college and, similar to previously reported national averages, 69.4% of the informants were actively employed. Twice as many of the actively employed informants worked off campus as on campus and over three-quarters of employed students reported working part-time. There were no significance differences in these areas by gender, ethnicity, or even when broken out as Latinas, Latinos, non-Hispanic females and non-Hispanic males but students of non-traditional age reported a work commitment at significantly higher levels. For hours of work per week, there were also no significant differences by gender, ethnicity, and for the four possible subsets (Latinas, Latinos, etc.) but being a non-traditional aged student and being married/cohabiting were associated with working more hours at statistically significant levels. Students at the HSIs in New Mexico also reported more hours of work at statistically significant levels. Differences by gender, ethnicity, age, relational status, and state were found for means of funding college. 

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) educate nearly two-thirds of the Hispanic/Latinx students who attend college. Yet little is known about the student populations they serve. Findings from two NSF-funded surveys completed with students at 14 HSIs in Texas and New Mexico in 2018 and four HSIs in TX in 2019 are presented. The combined sample was 1,293 students. A description of the backgrounds, commitments, experiences, and preferences of students at HSIs and differences found between responses from Hispanic/Latinx and non-Hispanic students are discussed. Primary topic areas are demographics, first-generation student standing, cultural orientation, primary language and fluency in Spanish, family and work commitments, relationship status, family support, living arrangements, means of financing college, course load, STEM identity, annual income of household of origin and of personal household, locus of control orientation, familism, and experience in college. The result is a thorough and up-to-date profile of the HSI student population in TX and NM. Statistical analysis revealed multiple significant differences between Hispanic/Latinx and non- Hispanic students attending the HSIs and the presence of several significant predictors for forms of activity and patterns of commitment. The findings are immediately applicable to process, program, student support, and instructional planning, implementation, and evaluation for over 120 HSIs in the region and, by extension, to hundreds more across the United States. 

A sense that there are a limited number of role models at colleges and universities for Hispanic and other minority students has been a concern of researchers in higher education for a number of years but little is actually known about who Hispanic students consider a role model. Similarly, researchers have investigated the impact of mentoring relationships on success in college and persistence for majority and minority students, yet little is known of the preferences students studying at Hispanic-Serving Institutions have regarding mentors and whether Hispanic students at these institutions have expectations that differ from those of their peers. An NSFfunded investigation gathered data in both these areas. Findings from two surveys, one with responses from 464 students at 14 Hispanic-Serving Institutions and the other with responses from 746 students at a comprehensive, regional state university and two community colleges from which the university receives transfer students, are discussed. The first survey set the context for the second and its sample came from colleges and universities in New Mexico and Texas. The sample for the second survey is isolated to north Texas. On the first survey, students at HSIs were asked three general questions about mentors, to select types of individuals they saw as role models from a list of six short descriptions and to select all that applied from a list of eight characteristics desired in role models. The second survey included similar patterns but all the questions targeted mentors and mentoring relationships. Responses on both surveys include three primary findings. At the HSIs represented, the preferences of Hispanic students regarding role models and mentors are different from their non-Hispanic peers in several key ways. Their preferences appear to be related to cultural identity and to primary language for those who have English as their second language. The Hispanic students in the second survey were also more likely than their non-Hispanic peers to submit low ratings of the understanding representatives of their institution had of the student’s culture. This occured for all forms of engagement listed: advising/mentoring, instruction, tutoring, financial aid assistance, scholarship services, career services, and student organizations.