The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that it will end funding for all programs supporting universities that serve minority populations, including Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), calling them “racially discriminatory for requiring ethnic quotas.” In Puerto Rico, this will impact 97% of all university students.
Also slated to lose funding are programs that strengthen institutions serving predominantly African American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and nontribal Native American students.
The announcement came just one day after the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) revealed that public and private universities in Puerto Rico would be the hardest hit among all U.S. states and territories if a lawsuit filed by the state of Tennessee and the group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) succeeds. The plaintiffs seek to eliminate race and ethnicity as criteria for awarding federal funding to universities under the HSI program. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Beyond the lawsuit, however, the Education Department’s decision will immediately affect at least 56 universities in Puerto Rico that rely on the program. The island ranks third in the number of institutions serving Hispanic students, behind only California and Texas, according to CPI’s analysis. Puerto Rico also tops the list of institutions with the highest proportion of Hispanic students, with 97% of its university population falling into this category, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
According to the Education Department, universities that currently receive grants were notified on Wednesday that their funding will not be renewed, and applicants for new grants will be informed that no awards will be made in fiscal year 2025, which begins October 1.
In the 2024–25 fiscal year, eight universities in Puerto Rico received a combined $20.7 million in grants through the HSI program, one of those just eliminated by the Trump administration. The funds were allocated to expand academic offerings, develop digital services, promote access to science careers, and train faculty to strengthen research at Polytechnic University, Ana G. Méndez University, EDP University, Pontifical Catholic University, Sagrado Corazón University, Inter American University, and the University of Puerto Rico’s Medical Sciences and Ponce campuses. The grants also supported infrastructure improvements, expanded internet access, the purchase of lab equipment and materials, and tutoring programs for high school students, according to seven university administrators in Puerto Rico interviewed by CPI.
The federal agency said the decision to cut funding for HSIs and other minority-focused programs included in the Higher Education Act stems from a determination issued in July by the U.S. attorney general, who found the programs allegedly “violate the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.” The cuts also reflect a decision by the U.S. Department of Justice, which, in late August, under President Donald Trump, announced it would not defend the constitutionality of the HSI program.
“Diversity is not simply the presence of a skin color. Putting someone in a box based on immutable characteristics reduces the full picture of their life and contributions, including their character, resilience, and merit,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.
McMahon said she hopes to work with the U.S. Congress to “redesign these programs in a way that supports students with fewer resources or less preparation, without relying on racial or ethnic quotas.”
For sociologist and former Puerto Rico Secretary of Education César Rey, eliminating funds that support universities serving minority populations will deepen the academic setbacks of vulnerable and impoverished communities in the United States — and especially in Puerto Rico.
“The effect will be the loss of tutoring programs and the funding needed to offer remedial courses. There is a direct correlation between poverty and academic underperformance. The moment you cut funds that serve the most vulnerable students, you are very clearly stratifying and polarizing society further, perpetuating limited access to social mobility. This leads to confrontation, violence, and academic neglect that ultimately translates into students dropping out of college,” he said.
The legal challenge to the program, created in 1998, was filed in June in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee by the state and SFFA, the same organization that in 2023 won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Harvard University. The court declared the use of race as an admissions criterion unconstitutional.
Hispanic-Serving Institution programs were incorporated into the Higher Education Act in response to the rapid growth of the Hispanic population in the United States and the need to strengthen the institutions that serve these students, according to HACU. A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that HSIs bolster the institutions that enroll Hispanic students, improve academic quality, and expand educational opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
In addition to cutting programs directed at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, the Education Department’s decision also eliminates other initiatives historically designed to address inequities in higher education.
According to Wednesday’s announcement, the agency is also ending the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program and funding for Hispanic graduate opportunities. Together, the repeal of these programs amounts to $350 million in cuts to universities in the United States and its territories this year alone.
The department said it will maintain $132 million in mandatory minority-serving program funds under Title III, Part F, which cannot be altered under congressional mandate. These resources are earmarked for programs specifically supporting minority students and for preserving certain development initiatives in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as strengthening HSIs under Title III, already required by Congress.
This story was produced through a collaboration between the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo and Open Campus.
This translation was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and clarity.
