The foundation they created, the Hector and Gloria López Foundation (HGLF), is committed to increasing the number of university graduates with a bachelor's degree, providing the resources to graduate debt-free on a path to a rewarding career and the leadership skills needed for future success. 

HGLF works primarily in the southern part of Texas, from El Paso to Austin and south to the US-México border.  Given the sheer size of the Latino population of this area, it makes sense to focus on serving this growing college-going population. 

Historically a bachelor’s degree has provided the most stable employment outcomes.  By 2031, six out of 10 jobs in Texas will require some postsecondary education–with at least two of those requiring a bachelor’s degree and one a graduate degree, according to projections from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. That means over 4.6 million jobs will require a bachelor’s or graduate degree in Texas alone. 

Additional estimates from Georgetown conclude Texans are leaving $1.5 trillion in additional potential net lifetime earnings on the table for Latino adults by not achieving parity in higher education - about half of which would come from achieving parity in Bachelor's and half parity in graduate degree attainment. 

Four in 10 workers in Texas’ labor force will be Latino by 2031, per the Texas Demographic Center. Yet the most recent Census (2022) estimates only 18% of Latinos had a Bachelor’s or higher (1.2 million).  That means to meet the job demands of the growing Texas economy and population by 2031, we need at least 1 and a ½ times more  to earn a bachelor’s or graduate degree focused on high-demand fields like healthcare, business and finance, computer and mathematical science and education. 

That’s why HGLF remains committed to increasing bachelor’s degree and ultimately professional degree completion rates to achieve increased prosperity for Latino students and put them on a path to achieve similar success as our founders achieved.  

Over the next ten years, HGLF’s goal is to invest in over 700 López Scholars on their path to a bachelor’s  degree.  In 1965, Hector shared in a speech that “our youth are our future.”  That phrase is as relevant today as it was 60 years ago.  HGLF knows that with support, López Scholars have an increased opportunity to graduate, debt free and on a path to building economic prosperity for themselves and for their families.  HGLF’s investment in López Scholars is an investment in their future and in the future of Texas.