The Trump administration announced Friday that it will no longer defend a long-standing federal grant program for colleges with high Hispanic enrollment, arguing the funding is unconstitutional.
In a notice to Congress, the Justice Department said it supports a lawsuit challenging grants reserved for institutions where at least 25 percent of undergraduates are Hispanic.
The program, created in 1998, was designed to address disparities in college enrollment and graduation rates between Latino students and their white peers. But the DOJ now contends the initiative confers an unlawful advantage based on race or ethnicity, citing a 2023 Supreme Court decision that declared “outright racial balancing” to be “patently unconstitutional.”
According to the New York Post, the challenge was filed in Tennessee by the conservative legal group Students for Fair Admissions. The lawsuit argues that while all public universities in Tennessee serve Hispanic students, they fall short of the program’s “arbitrary ethnic threshold,” leaving them excluded from tens of millions of dollars in federal funding.
In a July 25 letter released Friday, Solicitor General John Sauer informed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that the Justice Department “has decided not to defend” the program. The decision aligns with the administration’s broader effort to roll back affirmative action-style policies in education.
Currently, more than 500 colleges and universities qualify as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and are eligible for the grants. In 2024, Congress allocated about $350 million for the program. Eligible schools compete for the funding, which can be used for campus improvements, science initiatives, and other educational programs.
Hispanic-serving universities voiced concern over the Justice Department’s decision not to defend the program.
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, which represents the institutions, has filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in the Tennessee lawsuit, arguing that the federal government may not adequately protect their interests.
