APIA Scholars Celebrates AANAPISI Week 2021
This celebration marks the 14th anniversary of the program which funds academic initiatives for underserved AANHPI students at colleges and universities all over America.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- APIA Scholars is celebrating the fourteenth year since Congress established the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) program on September 27, 2007, to improve and expand these institutions' capacity to serve Asian Americans and Native American Pacific Islanders and low-income individuals.
Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs) are degree-granting postsecondary institutions that have an undergraduate enrollment of at least 10 percent Asian-American and Pacific Islander students and serve significant percentages of low-income students. While AANAPISIs comprise only 5% of the colleges and universities in the United States, they enroll nearly 40% of all AANHPI undergraduates in the nation.
"AANAPISI Week gives us the chance to elevate the work of AANAPISIs and to further amplify the need and demand for improved availability and quality of postsecondary education programs to serve the diverse needs of Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and low-income students," stated Dr. Noel Harmon, President, APIA Scholars.
The AANAPISI Program was originally authorized on September 27, 2007, by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. Since its founding, some 217 colleges and universities have been eligible as AANAPISIs throughout the United States, including the United States territories.
"The growth of AANAPISIs and their reach and impact on the APIA community is truly evident by the many scholar success stories that we have collected in our own work with APIA students," states Dr. Julie Ajinkya, Senior Vice President, APIA Scholars. "It is our hope to bring even greater visibility to this work and to help to grow in numbers those institutions who qualify as AANAPISI."
Today, there are currently 166 eligible Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions operating in the United States, including the United States territories. Since the program began in 2007, 38 institutions have received funding, yet currently there are only 20 institutional grantees.
Through our AANAPISI Scholarship program in partnerships with AANAPISIs, we have awarded over 1,600 scholarships to AANHPI students at these campuses over the past 10 years. These campuses are critical sites of interventions and support for our Scholars. Our Scholars attending these institutions have an 89% persistence and graduation rate, illustrating the impact of these partnerships and their ability to support student success
Visit http://www.apiascholars.org for more related to AANAPISIs and for news and events related to AANAPISI Week 2021.
About APIA Scholars
Based in Washington, D.C. and founded in 2003, APIA Scholars is the nation's leading non-profit organization devoted to the academic, personal and professional success of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs). We celebrate APIA students whose unique stories, rich cultures, and diverse perspectives equip them to be the leaders of tomorrow. Through holistic college-to-career programs, scholarships, higher education research and policy, and institutional partnerships, APIA Scholars carries out its mission to educate, elevate, and empower a diverse community of 25 million strong and growing.
Media Contact
Dawn Baron, APIA Scholars, +1 703-434-9306, [email protected]
SOURCE APIA Scholars
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