NPC Custom Media

THE FUTURE IS NOW FOR HSIS Northeastern plays an increasing role in education of Latinx business leaders www.negociosnow.com 18 Agosto 2019 NegociosNow NegociosNow F r a n c i s c o S e b a s t i a n always carries a pen and paper with him. "A business deal can be done in a minute," he likes to say. Sebastian is a senior Accounting major at North- eastern Illinois University, a federally recognized Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with four locations in the Chicago area. Sebastian also is a symbol of the changing demographics of the talent available to the business community. While HSIs make up only 17 percent of higher education institutions, they graduate 66 percent of all Latinx undergrad- uate students. What does that mean? As the Hispanic popu- lation continues to grow, the future of the college-educated Latinx workforce in Chicago and beyond will pass through uni- versities like Northeastern. Sebastian's father is an accountant, so a knack for numbers is in his blood. "When other kids were out playing in the summer, my dad had me and my sibling learn- ing a lot about finance," Sebas- tian said. "He had us look at bank statements and do prob- lems in workbooks to get a better understanding of math." Those math skills are being put to good use at North- eastern, where Sebastian is the treasurer of several stu- dent organizations, including Northeastern's chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneur Orga- nization, or CEO club. He's also spending this summer like those of his childhood—deal- ing with numbers. This time, though, he's an accounting intern at the High Ridge YMCA in Chicago's Rogers Park neigh- borhood. "Math is the language of companies," Sebastian said. That language is being honed at Northeastern, which earned HSI status in 1997 and is one of 14 HSIs in Illinois, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. Over the past 10 years, the number of HSIs has grown 98 percent. There are 523 HSIs across the continental United States and its territories. Unlike His- torically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which earn their designation by being institutions of higher educa- tion that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serv- ing African-Americans, HSIs earn their classification based "S ince HSIs are not driven by a mission to serve Latinx students and the number of HSIs continues to grow, there is an increasing focus on how intentionally HSIs are serving the needs of Latinx students" By Mary Kroeck NegociosNow NegociosNow HACU - ESPECIAL

• Cover