On Sept. 10, the Department of Education announced it will cut $350 million from grants directed at some minority-serving colleges and universities.
This decision follows rhetoric from the Trump Administration saying that higher education programs that reward minority groups encourage discrimination. On July 25, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer determined that diversity, equity, and inclusion programs violated the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon cited this determination as a reason to cut spending towards minority-serving institutions.
“The department has carefully scrutinized our federal grants, ensuring that taxpayers are not funding racially discriminatory programs but those programs which promote merit and excellence in education,” McMahon said.
On Sept. 15, the Department of Education said in a statement on their website that the cut funds would be redirected to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, (TCCUs).
“These investments will be repurposed from programs that the Department determined are not in the best interest of students and families,” the Department of Education said. “Following the release of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, which showed dismal educational outcomes across the nation, the Department plans to award grants totaling $500 million for charter schools to support education choice in fiscal year 2025.”
New Mexico State University currently identifies as an HSI. According to NMSU’s Vice President for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, Teresa Maria Linda Scholz, an HSI is a non-profit, degree-granting postsecondary institution that enrolls 25% or more full-time undergraduate students of Latinx/Hispanic identity.
NMSU offers several academic programs relating to the study of Hispanic American culture, history, and society. These include courses such as the Spanish program, the Latin American Studies program (both under the Department of Languages and Linguistics), and the Chicano/a Studies program (Department of Borderlands and Ethnic Studies). Additionally, the Garcia Center is home to Latin American Programs, which describes itself as a “hub group of multiple Hispanic serving student organizations” at NMSU. One of its organizations, College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, is a federally funded program that helps U.S. citizens as well as permanent residents with educational needs. Currently, CAMP is still waiting to see how its funding will be impacted by the cuts as well as additional information from other entities.
President of NMSU’s Latin American Council Karla Robles-Guzman, told KOB 4 the concerns they had about how the slashing of grants would impact them.
“It’s not only a worry for me, but also for my entire cohort of people who are also considering going to graduate school, that we don’t know what the program is going to look like next year because of all of these funding cuts,” Robles-Guzman said.
Currently, Secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department Stephanie M. Rodriguez said that her office is keeping track of which specific grants are being cut and how they might affect New Mexican institutions.
“The NMHED is collecting and tracking all federal funding impacts that the state’s colleges and universities will experience, including cuts to Hispanic-Serving Institutions,” Rodriguez said. “By closely monitoring decreases in federal funding at each public higher education institution, the state can better understand potential implications for schools and their local communities.”
