Trump administration to end funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, affecting many California colleges

This article first appeared in EdSource The U S Department of Schooling mentioned Wednesday it is ending a grant effort for Hispanic-Serving Institutions and several similar programs a decision expected to sap funding from California colleges and universities that are eligible for extra federal dollars because they enroll high numbers of Latino students Campuses earn a Hispanic-Serving Institution designation by having an undergraduate trainee body that is at least Latino California has such institutions more than any other state including five University of California campuses California State University campuses and the greater part of the state s population colleges The designation allows those colleges to apply for the grants which are competitive and not guaranteed to all HSIs Together California institutions have received more than million in HSI grants since the effort s inception in CSU Chancellor Mildred Garc a mentioned in a announcement that ending the HSI grant project will have an immediate impact and irreparable harm to our entire region CSU campuses have used grants to help more students graduate faster increase the number of low-income students in STEM majors and even train faculty in culturally responsive pedagogy Without this funding students will lose the critical help they need to succeed in the classroom complete their degrees on time and achieve social mobility for themselves and their families she reported U S Secretary of Mentoring Linda McMahon stated grants for HSIs and other minority-serving institutions discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas and called them unconstitutional The Department looks forward to working with Congress to reenvision these programs to assistance institutions that serve underprepared or under-resourced students without relying on race quotas and will continue fighting to ensure that students are judged as individuals not prejudged by their membership of a racial group McMahon added in a comment In total the department explained it will hold back million in grant funding that was budgeted for fiscal year The bulk of that would have gone to HSIs but selected of it also would have been allocated to grant programs for colleges enrolling high numbers of Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian students Asian American students and Black students Earlier this year the state of Tennessee and the anti-affirmative action organization Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit in U S district court challenging the HSI grant project The lawsuit argues that the criteria to become an HSI are unconstitutional and that all colleges serving low-income students should be able to apply for the grants available to HSIs The U S Department of Justice later decided not to defend the undertaking against the lawsuit with U S Solicitor General D John Sauer writing to House Speaker Mike Johnson in July that HSI programs violate the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment s Due Process Clause Proponents of HSIs argue that the plan and grant funding are not discriminatory because grants for HSIs are meant to be spent on initiatives that could benefit any participant at the college not just Hispanic students That s the event across the -campus CSU system according to Garc a who reported in a message that HSI grant funding not only helps advance the CSU s educational mission but it also supports CSU s efforts to carry out our core values of inclusive excellence social mobility authentic access to higher training and equity in all its dimensions The CSU remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that all students continue to have access to affordable high-quality higher teaching she added EdSource is California s largest independent newsroom focused on Mentoring