Marking the 10-Year Anniversary of Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) marks the tenth anniversary of the Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions program (AANAPISIs), a program that benefits students in 35 states and six Pacific Islands by providing grants to advance educational opportunity. We thank Representative Judy Chu for sponsoring a Congressional resolution celebrating the accomplishments and tenth anniversary of AANAPISIs.

NCAPA and its education committee members are participating in a week-long celebration that includes educational awareness and story sharing on social media using #MyAANAPISIstory and #AANAPISIWeek.

The events also included a Congressional briefing that provided an overview of the impact AANAPISIs have had on our community, presented by AAPI Data’s Janelle Wong and a panel discussion on the state and growth of the program. Panelists included leaders from AANAPISIs such as Dr. Patricia Neilson from University of Massachusetts-Boston; Director Aida Cuenza-Uvas from Mt. St. Antonio College in Walnut, California; Dr. Timothy Fong from California State University, Sacramento; and Professor Kim Geron from California State University, East Bay.

“The AANAPISI Program was created with the support of the AAPI community as we were the only community who did not have a Minority Serving Institutions program to serve our students,” said NCAPA education committee co-chair Monica Thammarath, who also serves as Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) president. “Ten years later, AANAPISIs serve approximately 40 percent of the nation’s AAPI student population, mostly Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, immigrant, English language learners, and first-generation college-going. As AAPIs continue to be one of the fastest-growing populations in the US, we hope for the continued growth and support for the AANAPISI program so the hundreds of thousands of students who attend these institutions can continue to have access to the resources they need to excel.”

The AANAPISI program is one of eight federally designated Minority Serving Institution (MSI) programs, put in place under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act in 2007 and the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008.

NCAPA education committee members Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) issued statements, as well as the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 34 national Asian Pacific American organizations that serves to represent the interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns. Our communities are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, currently making up approximately six percent of the population.