Excelencia in Education

What Excelencia in Education does

Excelencia in Education is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2004 by Deborah A. Santiago and Sarita E. Brown to accelerate Latino student success in U.S. higher education. The organization operates a portfolio of interconnected programs: the Seal of Excelencia certification (a data-driven framework assessing institutional intentionality and impact, with 45 certified institutions and a new Intentionally Thriving Institution designation launched in 2025), the Examples of Excelencia recognition program (the only national effort identifying evidence-based practices, with 400+ programs recognized since 2005 from 2,500+ submissions), and the Excelencia in Action network of 141+ affiliated colleges and universities. Core research products include annual HSI/eHSI/gHSI lists (631, 427, and 276 institutions respectively in 2024-25), the Growing What Works database, the HSI Interactive Dashboard built on Tableau, and the 31-year HSI Evolution StoryMap on ArcGIS. Supporting these are multiple capacity-building institutes and the SSITA self-assessment tool.

The organization is funded entirely through tax-deductible donations and grants from more than a dozen institutional and corporate funders, including Lumina Foundation, Gates Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Trellis Foundation, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and others. Excelencia provides its programs, research, certification, and technical assistance at no cost to affiliated institutions, positioning itself as a mission-driven national intermediary rather than a commercial enterprise. Its stated policy priorities are workforce, institutional capacity, college affordability, and retention and transfer. The organization tracks progress toward a national Latino degree attainment goal of 6.2 million degrees by 2030 and serves a market in which HSIs represent 21% of U.S. colleges and universities but enroll 65% of Latino undergraduates.

Name

Excelencia in Education

Legal name

Excelencia in Education

Website

https://edexcelencia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Excelencia in Education is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit founded in 2004 that drives Latino student success in higher education through the Seal of Excelencia certification, a 141-institution network, evidence-based practice recognition, and longitudinal HSI research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Research and Advocacy

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Equity, Inclusion & Civil Rights Reporting (Disparities, Access, Outcomes) (EDADAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Accreditation Standards, Benchmarking & Framework Organizations (EDADACAJ)

Keywords

• Higher education research
• Latino student success
• Hispanic-Serving Institutions
• Institutional certification
• Education policy advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations (Futuro Fund): Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting Excelencia's mission to accelerate Latino student success. The Futuro Fund is the organization's donor funding vehicle.
2. Institutional and Foundation Grants: Funding from foundations and institutional partners including major sponsors and funders: Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Kresge Foundation, Trellis Foundation, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Cisneros Foundation, ECMC Foundation, Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Raikes Foundation, and others.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Excelencia in Education is a national nonprofit that produces data-driven research, policy analysis, and capacity-building programs to accelerate Latino student success in U.S. higher education. Its core deliverables include the Seal of Excelencia institutional certification, the Examples of Excelencia recognition program for evidence-based practices, the Growing What Works Database, the E-Action network of 141+ affiliated institutions, HSI research products (annual lists, factbooks, interactive dashboards, and StoryMaps), and a portfolio of Capacity Building Institutes and assessment tools (SSITA) delivered free of charge to institutions.

Product overview

Excelencia in Education operates as a national organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs and services focused on accelerating Latino student success in higher education. The core offerings include Examples of Excelencia (a recognition program for evidence-based practices), the Seal of Excelencia (a data-driven institutional certification), the Excelencia in Action network (a national affiliation of committed institutions), the Growing What Works database (an evidence-based practices repository), and HSI research products (lists, dashboards, factbooks, and StoryMaps tracking Hispanic-Serving Institutions). Supporting these are Capacity Building Institutes and the SSITA assessment tool for institutional transformation. The organization also produces policy research and publications on college affordability, workforce pathways, and institutional capacity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Examples of Excelencia The only national, data-driven recognition program for programs with evidence of effectiveness in increasing Latino student success amongst all served, facilitating access to excellence for all students. Annual recognition cycle with finalists and Programs to Watch designations.
• Seal of Excelencia A rigorous, data-driven institutional certification for colleges and universities that demonstrates continuous improvement in student outcomes and intentional efforts to serve Latino and all students through data, practice, and leadership alignment.
• Excelencia in Action (E-Action) Network A national network of over 141 colleges and universities committed to intentionally serving Latino and all students, providing resources, research, and peer learning opportunities through direct engagement with college and university presidents and leaders.
• Growing What Works Database A resource database for practitioners, institutional leaders, funders, and policymakers interested in evidence-based practices that accelerate Latino student success in higher education, populated from over 2,500 reviewed program submissions since 2005.
• Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) Lists and Databases Annual lists identifying Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Emerging HSIs (eHSIs), and HSIs with Graduate Programs (gHSIs), with factbooks, dashboards, and infographics available to researchers. The 2024-25 cycle identified 631 HSIs, 427 eHSIs, and 276 gHSIs.
• Capacity Building Institutes Technical assistance programming including Evidence-Based Practices Institute, Data Institute, Post-Completion Institute, and Alignment Institute offered as 3-virtual-module cohorts for institutional teams committed to intentionally serving Latino students.
• SSITA (Student-Centered Self-Assessment Tool) A student-centered self-assessment tool for institutions to evaluate who they serve, don't serve, and aim to serve, identifying strengths and opportunities for greater intentionality in serving Latino students.
• HSI Interactive Dashboard An interactive Tableau-based dashboard exploring HSI data by geography, sector, and student demographics for 2024-25, allowing researchers and practitioners to analyze the HSI landscape.
• HSI Evolution StoryMap An interactive ArcGIS StoryMap showing the 31-year evolution of Hispanic-Serving Institutions, visualizing how the number and location of HSIs and eHSIs have changed over time from 1994 to 2024.
• Intentionally Thriving Institution (ITI) Designation An advanced designation under the Seal of Excelencia framework recognizing institutions that have achieved certification for the third time and demonstrate how they prepare students for the workforce and their long-term success, extending impact beyond the educational pathway.

Quantifiable outcome

• Seal-certified institutions (less than 1% of colleges) enroll 16% and graduate 18% of Latino students nationwide
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.

• AASCU (American Association of State Colleges and Universities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the From Campus to Career national initiative to scale career-connected high-impact practices. AASCU represents public universities, colleges, and state systems committed to supporting student success.
• CIPE (Center for Institutional Performance and Excellence)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the From Campus to Career initiative providing technical assistance and support to participating institutions for career-connected practices.
• Sova SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the From Campus to Career initiative providing cohort-based support and technical assistance to selected institutions.
• Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub at CSUNstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with California State University, Northridge to develop the brief 'Finding Your Workforce: Linking College Completion with U.S. Workforce Needs in STEAM' examining Latino talent in STEAM fields.
• TheDream.USminorOthersDeborah Santiago serves on the Advisory Board of TheDream.US, supporting undocumented students' access to higher education.
• Helios Education FoundationstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted the Arizona Forum on 'Advancing Student Success in Higher Education in AZ: Growing Talent for our Country's Future' and provided event support for Arizona Seal of Excelencia institutions.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU): HACU is the most direct peer to Excelencia — both are national organizations serving Hispanic-Serving Institutions and advocating for Latino college access and success. HACU focuses on advocacy and Capitol Hill representation, while Excelencia differentiates via data, certification, and capacity building, making them complementary competitors within the same HSI ecosystem.
• The Education Trust: Education Trust is a national nonprofit focused on closing opportunity gaps for students of color and low-income students in K-16 education through research, policy, and advocacy. It is a direct peer given overlapping mission around equity outcomes, comparable research-driven advocacy model, and similar foundation funder ecosystem.
• Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP): IHEP is a nonpartisan research and policy organization focused on access, affordability, and equity in higher education. It is a direct peer to Excelencia through its data-driven research on underrepresented student outcomes, federal policy advocacy, and reliance on foundation grant funding.

Emerging players

• Complete College America: Complete College America is a national nonprofit focused on increasing postsecondary completion rates through state-level policy and institutional change initiatives. It is comparable to Excelencia via the higher-ed equity/completion mission and foundation-funded operating model, though it operates more in the state policy lane versus Excelencia's HSI-specific institutional certification lane.
• Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education: The Pell Institute conducts research and policy analysis on access, persistence, and completion for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students. It is an emerging player peer to Excelencia through shared focus on equity outcomes research and policy advocacy, though smaller in scale and scope.

Broad incumbents

• UNCF (United Negro College Fund): UNCF is the largest minority-serving-institution support organization, focused on HBCUs and Black student success in higher education via fundraising, scholarships, and capacity building. It is a structural analog to Excelencia — same minority-serving-institution model applied to HBCUs — and a direct peer in the MSI space but at much greater scale.
• American Indian College Fund: The American Indian College Fund supports Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and American Indian/Alaska Native student success. It mirrors Excelencia's data, advocacy, and capacity-building model but for a different minority-serving-institution segment, making it a direct structural parallel in the MSI ecosystem.
• American Council on Education (ACE): ACE is the major higher education association representing presidents and chancellors of accredited institutions, with broad policy, research, and leadership development functions. It is a broad incumbent in the same HSI policy space, though it represents all higher ed rather than specializing in the HSI/Latino segment where Excelencia operates.

Others

• AASCU (American Association of State Colleges and Universities): AASCU is a partner of Excelencia in the From Campus to Career initiative and represents public regional comprehensive universities, many of which are HSIs. While not a direct competitor, AASCU is a relevant adjacent organization since it serves many of the same institutional customers with broader policy, advocacy, and leadership development offerings.
• National Student Clearinghouse Research Center: The NSC Research Center is a primary source of national postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion data. It is an adjacent peer to Excelencia — a research/data infrastructure provider for the higher-ed sector — and its datasets on completion outcomes overlap with Excelencia's HSI-focused longitudinal analyses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EdExcelencia
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ExcelenciaEducation/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/EdExcelencia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/excelencia-in-education
• Instagraminstagram.com/excelencia_in_education

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Excelencia in Education