Sacramento State Earns Top Hispanic Success Honor
The university is now recognized as an Intentionally Thriving Institution for its support of Latino student success.
Updated on Oct. 27, 2026 in Hispanic
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Sacramento State has earned certification as an Intentionally Thriving Institution from Excelencia in Education. This award represents the highest level of recognition offered by the organization for supporting Latino student success.
Why it matters
The recognition acknowledges the university's impact on Latino students across several areas including recruitment, leadership, financial aid, and graduation rates. It highlights institutional efforts to sustain long-term academic support for a significant portion of the student body.
Latino students currently make up 37% of the student body at Sacramento State. The school has improved four-year graduation rates for Latino students from 21% in 2019 to 29% in 2025.
The players
Sacramento State
A public university in California that serves over 11,000 Latino students.
Excelencia in Education
A national organization that tracks and recognizes institutions for advancing Latino student success in higher education.
The details
The university supports its community by diversifying funding streams and providing bilingual recruitment materials. These efforts include conducting orientation sessions in Spanish to ensure accessibility for students and their families.
Timeline
2017: Two-year graduation rate tracking for Latino transfer students began.
2019: The university's four-year graduation rate baseline was established.
2020: Sacramento State first received the Seal of Excelencia.
2023: The university received its first recertification.
October 2026: The school earned the Intentionally Thriving Institution certification.
Culture Shift
This certification marks a transition from simple awareness to institutionalizing support systems for minority populations in higher education. It mirrors a broader national trend of universities formalizing specific pathways to ensure equitable outcomes for a growing demographic of students.
Local families and prospective students may find more accessible recruitment and orientation processes due to the university's emphasis on bilingual services. This recognition also validates the university's ongoing investment in financial aid and support structures for the local community.
The takeaway
The university's success illustrates the value of long-term tracking and bilingual engagement in improving student outcomes. Institutions looking to replicate these results should focus on sustained financial aid and culturally responsive outreach.
Further reading
Learn more about the local Hispanic community developments at Sacramento State.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Sacramento Bee.
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