\n<\/p>\n
A DOJ report is the latest in the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to dismantle minority-serving programs.<\/p>\n
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison\/Inside Higher Ed | d1sk and nullplus\/iStock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Department of Justice has declared a slew of Department of Education programs and grants unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the University of North Carolina.<\/p>\n
According to a report by the DOJ\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), minority-serving institution (MSI) programs are unlawful because they award money to colleges and universities based on the percentage of students of a certain race. The report said such programs \u201ceffectively [employ] a racial quota by limiting institutional eligibility to schools with a certain racial composition\u201d and should no longer be funded.<\/p>\n
The report also deemed it unconstitutional that two scholarship providers, the United Negro College Fund and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, both of which award scholarships to students of a specific race, are given access to Free Application for Federal Student Aid data.<\/p>\n
In a statement from the education department, Secretary Linda McMahon said that the report is \u201canother concrete step from the Trump Administration to put a stop to DEI in government and ensure taxpayer dollars support programs that advance merit and fairness in all aspects of Americans lives. The Department of Education looks forward to working with Congress to reform these programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement noted that the department is \u201ccurrently evaluating the full impact of the OLC opinion on affected programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OLC also evaluated the constitutionality of two TRIO programs, the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, a scholarship that helps students from underrepresented backgrounds work towards Ph.D.s, and Student Support Services, which provides grants for institutions to develop academic support infrastructure. It ultimately concludes that those programs are constitutional and may continue to be funded.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, in ED\u2019s announcement of the DOJ decision, those TRIO programs were included in a list of \u201caffected programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump administration\u2019s attack on MSI programs began in July, when the U.S. Solicitor General declined to defend against a lawsuit challenging the definition of a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) as one that enrolls a student body with at least 25\u00a0percent Hispanic students. In September, ED officially announced its plans to end these programs, terminating the majority of MSI grants for FY2025.<\/p>\n
Supporters of MSI programs strongly criticized the OLC\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s baseless opinion from the Justice Department is wrong, plain and simple. Donald Trump and his Administration are once again attacking the institutions that expand opportunity for millions of aspiring students of all backgrounds. The opinion ignores federal law, including Congress\u2019 bipartisan support for our nation\u2019s Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Minority-Serving Institutions, including more than 100 MSIs in California alone,\u201d Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate HSI Caucus, wrote in a statement. \u201cEvery student deserves access to the American Dream. This unconscionable move by this Administration will harm millions of students who deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presidents of institutions that could be impacted by the legal decision are also speaking out. Wendy F. Hensel, president of the University of Hawai’i, called the news \u201cdisappointing\u201d in a statement to the campus community. UH is an Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institution, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, and a Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education grantee; Hensel said these programs are \u201cvital\u201d to UH and the state of Hawai’i.<\/p>\n
She wrote that the university\u2019s general counsel is examining the full report and that campus leadership is currently \u201cevaluating the full scope of the impact on our campuses and programs and implementing contingency plans for the loss of funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that this news creates uncertainty and anxiety for the students, faculty and staff whose work and educational pathways are supported by these funds. We are actively assessing how best to support the people and programs affected as we navigate this evolving legal landscape,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s allies, however, applauded the report and ED\u2019s efforts to end MSI programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s announcement is a strong step by the Trump administration to end racial discrimination in our higher education system. These programs determine funding eligibility through arbitrary, race-based quotas which unfairly assume a student\u2019s background determines his or her educational destiny,\u201d Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, a Republican representative from Michigan, wrote in a statement. \u201cAmerica was founded on the principles of freedom and equality, and that every citizen can chase the American Dream. In Congress, we are working with the Trump administration to create a fairer higher education system so every student has a strong chance at success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A DOJ report is the latest in the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to dismantle minority-serving programs. Photo illustration by Justin Morrison\/Inside Higher Ed | d1sk and nullplus\/iStock\/Getty Images The Department of Justice has declared a slew of Department of Education programs and grants unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[2970,1414,21154,293,10448],"class_list":{"0":"post-38728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-declares","9":"tag-doj","10":"tag-msis","11":"tag-report","12":"tag-unconstitutional"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}