To apply for this grant, the Higher Education Act (HEA) stipulates than institution of higher education must have Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students comprising at least 10% of its undergraduate enrollment during the semester when the grant proposal is submitted. When we applied in Spring 2022, 13% of our dual campus undergraduates were Asian American and 1% were Pacific Islanders, according to our Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE).

There are two differences between the data used to create the Eligibility Matrix (EM) that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) releases each year (usually in the spring) and the definition of an AANAPISI in Section 320 of the HEA.

First, the EM utilizes enrollment data submitted by schools to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) at the end of the Fall semester two years prior. For example, the DOE’s Matrix for the Federal Fiscal Year 2023 (beginning on Oct. 1, 2022) and published in the Spring of 2023, is based on Fall 2021 enrollment data. As IPEDS takes time to collect, analyze, and publish this data, this represents the most current numbers available to the DOE.

In contrast, the HEA identifies the current semester during which a grant proposal is submitted as the timeframe to determine if a school meets the 10% threshold.

Second, the EM eligibility codes are based on a unique formula for calculating “full-time undergraduate enrollment” that differs from the HEA’s definition of an AANAPISI, which merely refers to “undergraduate enrollment.”

Fortunately, the DOE recognizes the discrepancy between the EM and the HEA. In the AANAPISI grant application form, DOE requires a school to self-certify that it meets the HEA-defined 10% threshold. As part of this process, we include a screenshot of our current semester’s Enrollment Dashboard (maintained by OIRE) which displays the percentage for both our Asian American and Pacific Islander students.

The $1.8 million grant will fund five initiatives:

• A peer student success coaching program
• A peer mental health program
• Student action research teams, with an initial focus on gaining a more detailed understanding of the assets and needs of our AAPI students
• An evidence-based content creation team to create materials for use by the peer student success and mental health coaches
• Expansion of dual-enrollment Ethnic Studies courses at area high schools   

Unfortunately, a number of other federal funding agencies and some philanthropic foundations rely on the EM to determine whether a school qualifies as an MSI. Applying for MSI-specific grants from these organizations is more complicated.

The easiest course of action is to contact Executive Director in the Office for DEI Terry Hughes (terence.hughes@ucdenver.edu) and send him a link to the funding notice. He’ll try to determine how the funding organization defines an MSI, and what information we might need to send to substantiate our MSI status if they rely on the EM.