EDITORS' CORNER
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. Department of Justice will not defend the $350 million Hispanic-Serving Institutions program, declaring it unconstitutional.
- The decision stems from a lawsuit by Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions, claiming the program unfairly excludes institutions below a 25% Hispanic enrollment threshold.
- Critics of the program argue that it promotes racial discrimination in federal funding, while advocates fear its termination could undermine essential support for minority-serving educational programs.
The U.S. Department of Justice will not defend a federal initiative that provides $350 million annually to “Hispanic-Serving Institutions,” deeming it unconstitutional.
The Washington Free Beacon first reported the news on Friday after reviewing a letter from Solicitor General D. John Sauer. The letter came in response to a June lawsuit against the federal program by the state of Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions.
“I write to advise you that the Department of Justice has decided not to defend the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965,” Sauer wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“The Department of Justice has determined that those provisions violate the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause,” he wrote.
The agency is reviewing three HSI grant programs “to determine the legal path forward,” a senior Education Department official told the Free Beacon.
The decision likely signals the end of HSI grants, which provide millions of dollars each year to colleges and universities that meet specific Hispanic student enrollment thresholds, the outlet reported.
Gail Heriot, a recently retired law professor from the University of San Diego and chair of the American Civil Rights Project, commended the decision in a post on X Friday.
“Thank you to Tennessee AG Skrmetti for filing the lawsuit. Thank you to Secretary McMahon & the Trump Administration for seeing that the program is unconstitutional,” the professor wrote.
“This may not be the end of the story. There may be an intervenor in the lawsuit to defend the program. But this is real progress,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro condemned the Trump administration’s move in a news release Monday.
“Make no mistake: the Trump Administration’s threat to shut off HSI funding is a threat to similar minority-serving programs across the country that are essential to educational equality and our economy,” they wrote.
The Students for Fair Admissions lawsuit states the HSI program “excludes colleges and universities that fall below its arbitrary ethnic threshold of 25% Hispanic.” It states there is no justifiable reason for allocating federal funds based on race or ethnicity, The College Fix previously reported.
“Just imagine what would happen if the federal government decided it would give money only to institutions that are at least 25% white,” Heriot told The Fix in June.
The grants are used to improve scientific or lab equipment, construction or renovation projects, faculty development, academic tutoring, counseling programs, and student support services, among other endeavors, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The lawsuit comes after calls from American Civil Rights Project leaders, including Heriot, Peter Kirsanow, and Daniel Morenoff, urging Congress to terminate Minority-Serving Institution programs.
The three civil rights advocates sent a letter to lawmakers in March asking them to end the programs.
They also proposed alternative legislation that would redirect MSI funds toward need-based financial aid, specifically by enhancing the Pell Grant program.
“For example, the money that currently goes to MSIs could be used to fund colleges and universities that educate a larger than average number of low- and middle-income students, or it could go directly to low- and middle-income students in the form of increased Pell grants,” Heriot told The Fix in April.
