Science is defined by its ability to solve scientific problems. The problems are emerging at a breathtaking pace and at dynamic and unforeseen intersections of traditional and newly defined disciplines. Discovering solutions to these problems requires the continuous input of new perspectives, approaches, and collaborations. More than ever before, we need scientists with a formidable set of skills—nimble, resilient, creative, courageous, and motivated to address the needs of society. We must forever put behind us the myth that these skills are innate, that creativity and innovation somehow magically emerge fully formed. These skills are learned, and they are best learned in a scientific community comprising persons with divergent perspectives acquired through different lived experiences.

Our nation faces a big problem, and much of it is of our own doing. To maintain global competitiveness, the United States must substantially expand its scientific workforce. In 2012, it was estimated that we should add one million more scientists over the next decade (PCAST, 2012). That decade has passed, and the shortfall is now estimated to be 1.5 million persons (Smith, 2025). As our need for new scientists increases, our reliance on international students decreases. Today, many students from abroad no longer need to come to the U.S. for the best opportunities, as other countries have developed and are developing their own first-rate scientific research and educational systems. And, for those who do want to come to the U.S., instead of welcoming them, we discourage them by sharply curtailing immigration and student and work visas.

Our diversity is our nation’s greatest strength, and it is time to accelerate our efforts to reach all students, especially persons from groups historically underrepresented in science. The good news is that diversity is all around us; we don’t have to do anything more than open our eyes. By 2050, the majority of our nation’s population will be persons of color. But we don’t have to wait. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, today’s young people of college and pre-college age, the reservoir of future scientific talent, are already “majority-minority” (Rabe, 2023). Indeed, “MSI” will soon stand for MAJORITY Serving Institution.

The bad news is that U.S. science is failing to fully leverage our nation’s rich talent pool, and this failure poses three existential threats. One, the exclusion of large segments of the population leads to an ever-shrinking talent pool. Two, a lack of STEM workforce diversity impedes our ability to find innovative and creative solutions to hard problems (Page, 2007). And three, even more serious than a shortage of scientists and a loss of innovation, is the massive disenfranchisement of citizens. A lack of diversity in STEM education jeopardizes the democratization of personal agency in an era when science and technology affect every aspect of every person’s life.

Persons identifying as Black, Indigenous, and Latiné, or PEERs (Persons Excluded because of Ethnicity or Race), are significantly underrepresented among students completing a STEM degree and in the scientific workforce (NASEM, 2023). This racialized gap has persisted for more than five decades and is not simply due to lack of interest or poor pre-college preparation (Riegle-Crumb et al., 2019; Asai, 2020).

How can we overcome this challenge?  The National Academies report Minority Serving Institutions: America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM Workforce (NASEM, 2019) offers an answer: “…(O)ne solution is to invest in institutions that already have an established and intentional focus to education and train this particular population of students…..attention to the underutilized resource of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) is a strategy that holds great promise for growing the size and diversity of a STEM-capable workforce.”

There are two categories of MSIs (see Table 1). Historically-defined MSIs were created when racial segregation in education was the law in many states. Historically-defined MSIs include 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and 35 accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). The second category is much larger and comprises the enrollment-defined MSIs. Because they reflect the dynamic diversity of the U.S., the enrollment-defined MSIs are growing in number and concentrated in parts of the country with large populations of recent immigrants. By far the most numerous of the MSIs are the Hispanic Serving Institutions or HSIs. In 2023-2024, there were a total of 615 HSIs, including 245 two-year schools and 370 four-year schools, with another 425 schools designated as emerging HSIs (HACU, 2025). In the decade between 2013 and 2023, the number of HSIs increased by a whopping 50%. Four-hundred ninety-seven or 81% of HSIs are located in only seven states (red AND blue) and Puerto Rico.

The approximately 800 MSIs have an outsized impact on STEM education (NASEM, 2019). Representing approximately 14% of all degree-granting institutions, MSIs enroll more than 30% of all undergraduates in the U.S. One-third of MSIs are 2-year colleges, an important gateway to STEM education. MSIs surpass non-MSIs in the percentage of all students, regardless of ethnicity, enrolled in STEM, and MSIs account for more than 20% of all STEM baccalaureate degree recipients. Importantly, the 4-year and 6-year graduation rates for MSIs significantly outpace the national average (NASEM, 2019).

Over the past decade, there have been encouraging signs of growth in research capacity and increasing federal research support for MSIs (GAO, 2025). Federal research funding to universities overall increased from FY 2018-2022, with MSIs also showing growth in research funding over the same time period. This growth is attributed, in part, to the opportunities provided to MSIs by federal agencies, with several federal research funding programs providing initiatives targeted to MSIs. For example, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Research Centers in Minority Institutions awards grants to strengthen the research infrastructure of MSIs.

In addition to supporting research at MSIs, the U.S. has recognized the power of MSIs as institutions and, through initiatives authorized by Congress, has provided vital financial support to MSIs. Thus, it is particularly disappointing that in September, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education announced the elimination of approximately $350M in grants to enrollment-defined MSIs. Why? The stated reason is to end “government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas.” The cancellation of these programs is devastating and short-sighted. Most painful is the unmistakable message that these institutions don’t matter, and that the hard work of faculty and staff who serve a community of students with enormous potential and daunting needs, a high percentage of students who are Pell grant-eligible, first in their families to attend college, and English language learners, is unappreciated and unimportant.

We hope that one day soon Congress will do the right thing and renew our investment in MSIs. In the meantime, what can we, as individuals and a professional society, do to support MSIs?  Here are three suggestions that can be done on a local level:

1. Recruit students from MSIs. Let us be sure to include MSIs in our advertisements of opportunities. For example, we should ensure students and faculty at MSIs are aware of summer research programs (e.g., REU), post-baccalaureate research programs (e.g., PREP), and ASCB travel awards. [By reaching out to students and faculty at MSIs, we support their institutions and are not selecting individuals because of their race or ethnicity.] 
2. Develop research and educational partnerships with MSIs. Let us explore, as individual institutions as well as a professional society, ideas for creating collaborative research programs between research-intensive institutions and teaching-focused MSIs. The ASCB Visiting Professorship Program (VP) is one such partnership. Over the dozen+ years of the program, the VP Program served as matchmaker, connecting scientists at research universities with junior faculty and their students at primarily teaching MSIs. The outcomes of the ASCB Visiting Professor Program were impressive with significant gains by the MSI faculty participants in the number of publications, the number of extramural research grants, and the size of the grants (Campbell et al., 2013).   
3. Learn from MSIs. Much more than a source of students for Primarily White Institutions (PWIs) that want to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, MSIs can be a rich source of wisdom. How can we create a more inclusive environment so that students of color don’t have to abandon aspects of their cultural identity to “fit in?”  Paraphrasing Marisela Martinez-Cola (2020), what can MSIs teach us so that we can move past being “collectors” and begin the journey to become “allies?”  Regardless of where you are on that journey, a good place to learn more about MSIs is at the 2025 ASCB annual meeting, where the MAC is sponsoring a Roundtable on MSIs on Saturday, December 6, 12:00 – 1:00 pm.

As members of the scientific community, we share a responsibility to ensure that talent and opportunity meet, wherever that talent resides. MSIs have long been at the forefront of preparing creative and resilient scientists who strengthen our collective capacity for discovery. Each of us and our Society can redouble our support of MSIs by engaging with and learning from these institutions. In doing so, ASCB members will help build a more inclusive and innovative scientific enterprise, one that is prepared to meet the exciting challenges of the 21^st Century.    

References

Asai, D.J. 2020. Race Matters. Cell 181: 754-757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.03.044

Campbell, A.G., M.J. Leibowitz, S.A. Murray, D. Burgess, W.F. Denetclaw, F.A. Carrero-Martinez, and D.J. Asai. 2013. Partnered research experiences for junior faculty at minority-serving institutions enhance professional success. CBE-Life Sci Educ. 12: 394-402. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.13-02-0025

Government Accounting Office. 2025. Agency Funding and Outreach to Historically Black, Tribal, and Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities. GAO-25-107576.

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). 2025. https://hacu.net/research/hispanic-serving-institutions/

Martinez-Cola, M. 2020. Collectors, Nightlights, and Allies, Oh My: White

Mentors in the Academy. Understanding and Dismantling Privilege 10(1):

61-82. https://www.wpcjournal.com/article/view/20275.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Minority Serving Institutions:  America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM Workforce. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/download/25257

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations.      https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26803/advancing-antiracism-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-stemm-organizations-beyond

Page, S. 2007. The Difference. Princeton University Press.

Rabe, M. 2023. Exploring the Racial and Ethnic Diversity of Various Age Groups. United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2023/09/exploring-diversity.html 

Riegle-Crumb, C., B. King, and Y. Irizarry. 2019. Does STEM Stand Out?  Examining Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Persistence Across Postsecondary Fields. Educ. Researcher 48(3):  133-144. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19831006

J. Smith. 2025. The Ultimate List of STEM Statistics 2025. https://www.codewizardshq.com/stem-statistics/

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Editor’s note: The title of this essay, “Investing Where the Talent Is: The Case for Minority Serving Institutions,” was generated using artificial intelligence (AI); all other content was written by the authors.