SAN ANTONIO – The Department of Education’s battle to root out programs serving minority college students may soon impact all students at several San Antonio institutions.
In July, the Department of Justice announced it will not defend the Higher Education Act, which allows the education department to offer grants to colleges with large populations of Hispanic students. The program officially ended Wednesday.
While the funding is granted based on whether at least 25% of a college or university’s student body is Hispanic, school leaders say the grants benefit everyone on campus.
“It is not about race,” said David Mendez, the Interim CEO of Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. “It is truly about access and possibilities.”
Our Lady of the Lake University is one of 13 colleges and universities classified as a Hispanic-Serving Institution between Bexar and Guadalupe counties.
“The money is going to help improve the institution as a whole,” said Teresita Munguia, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Our Lady of the Lake University.
Munguia said the university has received $12 million in grant funding over the last five years, and it does not fund scholarships.
“Instead, it improves the programs that the student is participating in,” Munguia said. “It helps us train faculty, so that faculty are always on the cutting edge. It helps to develop new programs … remodeling our STEM laboratories.”
Schools of all sizes benefit from designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, from UT San Antonio to San Antonio College.
“Eliminating those funds is really limiting the possibilities for San Antonio community,” Mendez said.
“It will impact not only large universities, but most certainly community colleges, small universities,” Mendez continued. “Small institutions need those funds in order to continue with their mission.”
Alamo Colleges sent the following statement to KSAT last month about the ongoing legal battle:
“We are monitoring the case closely. All five Alamo Colleges are designated Hispanic-Serving Institutions, a designation that has provided critical resources and networks that support our Moonshot of partnering to end poverty through education and training.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed the department would end not only grants benefitting Hispanic-Serving Instituions, but also six other grant programs aimed at strengthening minority-serving institutions, including:
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Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (Title III Part A);
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Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutions (Title III Part A);
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Strengthening Asian American- and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (Title III Part A);
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Strengthening Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (Title III Part A);
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Minority Science and Engineering Improvement (Title III Part E);
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Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Title V Part A); and
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Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (Title V Part B).
McMahon said the funds will be reallocated into programs that advance Trump “Administration priorities.”
“The statements that were issued by the Department of Education represent a true attack on equity,” Mendez said.
The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities filed a motion to intervene last July. It is unclear what their next steps in the legal process will look like.
The association said the changes will impact 5.6 million students nationwide.
Below is a full list of the universities in the San Antonio area impacted:
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Baptist University of the Americas
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Hallmark University
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Northeast Lakeview College
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Northwest Vista College
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Our Lady of the Lake University
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Palo Alto College
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San Antonio College
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St. Philip’s College
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St. Mary’s University
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Texas A&M University – San Antonio
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Texas Lutheran University
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University of Texas at San Antonio, including UT Health San Antonio
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University of the Incarnate Word
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