wide group shot of newark honors living-learning community participants

Embracing our Identity as a Hispanic-Serving Institution

A Hispanic-serving institution

At Rutgers-Newark, we embrace our identity as a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, which we earned in 2016. Latinx undergraduate enrollment has grown more than 50% in the last decade and today more than 34% of undergraduates identify as Latinx. The diversity of our Latinx student body and the strength of the connections maintained by our students with their families’ ancestral homes across the world strengthens our commitment as an anchor institution that works with many partners in our community on challenges and solutions locally that resonate globally.  

Demographics

For more than two decades, Rutgers-Newark has been among the most diverse universities in the U.S. Our current undergraduate enrollment reflects this continued leadership.

34
%
Latinx
72
%
Students of Color
54
%
Qualify for Federal Pell Grants
34
%
Are in the First Generation in their families to go to college
14
%

Newark residents

28
%
New Jersey Community College transfers
pie chart of Undergraduate Demographics at Rutgers-Newark Fall 2022

Distinction as an HSI Leader

Reflecting the high priority we place on not just having a diverse community, but leveraging that diversity to make a difference, Rutgers-Newark has earned the following distinctions.

chancellor cantor holding a Rutgers-newark pennant next to other attendees of the hispanic association of colleges and universities round table
graph of latinx undergraduate enrollment rising from 25% to 40% from 2013 to 2022

Academic Programs that Leverage Diversity

At Rutgers-Newark, we encourage all members of our community not to check their identities at the door. Our inspirational Strategic Plan and Diversity Strategic Plan provide us frameworks for weaving perspectives and experiences into our high-impact scholarship and curriculum across the disciplines that deepen our appreciation of each other’s cultures while also demonstrating our interdependence. See our array of undergraduate and graduate programs, and examples below of special academic opportunities.

several diverse students sitting in a lounge and working

Support for Student Success

At Rutgers-Newark, we are firm believers that access to higher education without the support required to be successful is not really access at all. This belief underlies our array of initiatives that aim to support Latinx student success financially, academically, and in personal and professional growth, including the following.

seated professor lecturing at a table where several students are also seated
several diverse students sitting in a lounge and working
seated professor lecturing at a table where several students are also seated

Contact Us

If you have questions about Rutgers-Newark’s role as a Hispanic-Serving Institution or any of the programs or initiatives mentioned here, please contact:
 
Jennifer M. Bucalo, Ph.D.  (she/her/ella)

Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives 

Office of the Chancellor
Center for Law & Justice Building

Email: HSI@newark.rutgers.edu