The National Hispanic University was founded in 1981 in
Oakland, California, to address the needs of Hispanic men and women, particularly those who are first in their families to attend college. Founder Dr. Roberto Cruz, a Texas native and first-generation college graduate, had studied the disproportionately large impact
historically black colleges and universities had in generating both undergraduate and
professional degree graduates within the
Black community. Predicting that the Latinos would be the largest population in California, Dr. Cruz's vision was to have a similarly positive impact on the Hispanic community in the United States and to create an institution that served their particular needs. In 1990, the university opened a
San Jose campus and moved to a larger facility in Oakland. In 1994, NHU closed both campuses and moved to a new campus in East San Jose. For several years, National Hispanic University published an annual report card on Hispanic quality of life. From 1981 to 1986, NHU also published reports on women of
La Raza,
Cesar Chavez, bilingual special education,
Las Posadas, and "Steps to Humanity." To better serve local youth, NHU established an
Upward Bound program in Oakland. and was rated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a "Baccalaureate College", with an academic breadth rated as "Diverse Fields" == School closure ==