A Justice Department report is the latest in the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle minority-serving programs.
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Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the Justice Department declared a series of Department of Education programs and grants unconstitutional.
Minority-serving institution (MSI) programs are illegal because they provide funding to colleges and universities based on the proportion of students of a particular race, according to a report from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). The report said such plans “are effective [employ] racial quotas” and should no longer receive funding.
The report also finds it unconstitutional that federal student aid data is freely available to two scholarship providers, the United Negro College Fund and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which both provide scholarships to students of a specific race.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement that the report is “another concrete step by the Trump administration to stop DEI in government and ensure taxpayer dollars support programs that promote merit and equity in all aspects of American life. The Department looks forward to working with Congress to reform these programs.”
The department “is currently evaluating the full impact of the OLC opinion on the affected projects,” the statement noted.
The OLC also evaluated the constitutionality of two TRIO programs, the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, a scholarship to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds pursue doctoral degrees, and Student Support Services, which provides grants for institutions to develop academic support infrastructure. The final conclusion was that the programs were constitutional and could continue to be funded.
However, when ED announced the DOJ decision, these TRIO programs were included in the “Affected Programs” list.
The Trump administration’s attack on MSI programs began in July, when the U.S. Solicitor General declined to defend a lawsuit challenging the definition of a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) as a student body that enrolls at least 25 percent Hispanic students. In September, ED formally announced plans to terminate these programs, ending most MSI funding in fiscal year 2025.
Supporters of the MSI program strongly criticized the OLC report.
“Today’s baseless opinion from the Department of Justice is wrong, plain and simple. Donald Trump and his administration are once again attacking the institutions that provide opportunities to millions of aspiring students of all backgrounds. This opinion ignores federal law, including bipartisan congressional support for our country’s Hispanic-serving and minority-serving institutions, including more than 100 MSIs in California alone,” Senate HSI Caucus Chairman Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., wrote in a statement. “Every student deserves to realize the American Dream. This unconscionable move by this administration will harm millions of students who deserve better.”
Deans of institutions that may be affected by the legal decision have also spoken out. University of Hawaii President Wendy Hensel called the news “disappointing” in a statement to the campus community. The University of Hawai’i is an institution serving Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, an institution serving Asian Americans and Native American Pacific Islanders, and a Native Hawaiian career and technical education grantee institution; Hensel said these programs are “critical” to UH and the state of Hawai’i.
She wrote that the university’s general counsel is reviewing the full report and that campus leadership is currently “assessing the full impact on our campuses and programs and implementing contingency plans for the loss of funds.”
“We recognize that this news creates uncertainty and anxiety for students, faculty and staff whose jobs and educational pathways are supported by these funds. We are actively evaluating how to best support affected people and programs to adapt to the changing legal environment,” she wrote.
Trump’s allies, however, applauded the report and ED’s efforts to end the MSI program.
“Today’s 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 that unfairly assume a student’s background determines his or her educational fate,” Representative Tim Walberg, a Republican from Michigan and chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, wrote in a statement. “America was founded on the principles of liberty and equality, and every citizen can pursue the American dream. In Congress, we are working with the Trump Administration to create a more equitable higher education system so that every student has a strong chance of success.”
