How Trump diverting funding from Hispanic-serving programs to Black colleges hurts Mass.
The Trump administration announced this month that it was ending funding for most minority-serving institutions and diverting the funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and tribal universities.
In a state without HBCUs or tribal universities, the announcement sent shock waves across Massachusetts institutions, especially those with programs that support Hispanic students.
Minority-serving institutions are colleges and universities that enroll a high percentage of minority students and thus receive federal funding, such as Hispanic-Serving Institutions. HBCUs and tribal universities are also counted among minority-serving institutions, but don't have percentage requirements. HBCUs were established earlier when Black students were often barred from other institutions and tribal colleges and universities were created to support Native students on or near often remote reservation lands.
The Trump administration doesn't understand that HSIs help the entire student population, not just one demographic group, according to a social work student at Salem State University.
MassLive is withholding the student's name due to her concerns about potential immigration enforcement actions against family members who lack legal status.
She said the federal government is "cherry picking" what programs it wants to support.
Salem State University hasn't yet been classified as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by the Department of Education, though it has met the required 25% threshold of Hispanic undergraduates.
"The truth is that funding for HSIs and MSIs was never just going to Hispanic people anyway. It strengthens the whole campus, it strengthens the community, it strengthens the state. The more that we support people that are underrepresented and marginalized, that is actually helpful to everybody," the student said.
The announcement from the Trump administration comes on the back of a federal lawsuit that threatens to dismantle HSIs for being discriminatory. The lawsuit, which was filed in June, was led by the state of Tennessee and the group Students for Fair Admissions.
While the U.S. Department of Education is the defendant, the U.S. Department of Justice responded by stating that it will not defend the program, stating it is unconstitutional.
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, which lobbied Congress in the early 1990s to recognize HSIs, intervened in the case in late July to defend the program.
In response, nine Massachusetts college presidents banded together in September to oppose the federal lawsuit and to urge state and national government leaders to support the HSI designation.
Impact of cut funds to free community college
The funding of minority serving institutions is a "tide that raises all boats," said Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College.
"This is not just about race and ethnicity, it's about economic uplift of entire communities," Eddinger said.
For instance, a nearly $3 million HSI grant helped create career pathways for students at Bunker Hill, reducing the overwhelming number of options that often paralyze student decision-making, according to Eddinger.
The pathways also allow faculty to tag someone in the online system to alert the advising team if a student needs extra support, helping students complete their degrees or courses of study.
Eddinger fears that with less funding and more students coming to Bunker Hill through the recently implemented free community college program in Massachusetts, she'll be stretched thin.
"I'm going to have that much less dollars to serve more students. It will always be a struggle, but it's the kind of struggle that we didn't expect to happen," she said.
'A difficult reality'
As a graduate of an HBCU, George Timmons, president of Holyoke Community College, said he thinks it is great that the institutions are receiving more funding.
However, it is coming at a cost.
"The reallocation of funding away from Hispanic Serving Institutions to make this happen is a difficult reality," Timmons said.
He pointed to the grant funding Holyoke Community College has received since becoming an HSI. One five-year grant was given in 2020 and is about to end on September 30. It focuses on increasing student success and promoting faculty and staff professional development.
As a result of the grant, the college's student retention rate improved from 51% in fall 2021 to fall 2022 to 55% fall 2023 to 2024.
With challenges to the HSI designation, Timmons remains "deeply concerned" about the direction the Trump administration is taking.
"It's a setback because it's obviously not going to be able to have the same impact without those resources," he said. "But we remain resolved in our commitment to being a Hispanic Serving Institution."
How funding cuts impact Hispanic students
Growing up attending predominantly white institutions, the Salem State student, who identifies as Latina, said it has been impactful to see more representation on Salem State's campus. She was looking forward to seeing how the college was going to improve the campus through federal grant funding.
The federal government backing away from funding programs like HSIs only hurts Latina students more, who haven't had the same opportunities as a lot of their peers, she said.
Hispanic communities in Massachusetts have lower levels of education and higher poverty rates compared to other populations, according to U.S. Census data .
And, the pulling back of funding HSIs hurts the workforce, which needs more people, especially those who are Spanish-speaking, she said.
"We need those people to be in the workforce and supporting people, especially in fields like social work. Because there are so many people served in this country that look and sound like us. We're a growing population," she said.
By 2035, the Hispanic population in Massachusetts will reach over one million people, accounting for around 15% of the total population, according to U.S Census data .
The data also shows the median age of Hispanic people in 2035 in Massachusetts will be between 25 to 29 years compared to the non-Hispanic age median age of 45 to 49.
Moving forward
The challenges to HSI funding are "very disheartening," according to Yves Salomon-Fernández, president of Urban College of Boston. Especially when the institution had just applied for a $2 million grant to help integrate artificial intelligence into its operations and curriculum.
While there has been progress in the rates of Hispanic students entering college across the U.S., she worries that the challenges to HSI funding could create a "setback" and change her campus and students' sense of belonging.
"All groups can coexist. We have to be concerned about every single person's achievement and group's achievement. And when we see certain groups not access college at the same rates, not completing college at the same rate, we ought to say, what can we do to achieve parity among everyone?" she said.
Still, Salomon-Fernández said the institution will work to move forward without federal HSI grant funding.
"We are very committed to all the communities we serve in all the languages that our students come to us speaking. That is not going to change our commitment and to meet students where they are," Salomon-Fernández said.
More Higher Ed
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
