Education
Minority-Serving Colleges in the Chicago Area Push Back Against Federal Funding Cuts
Some local colleges are up next in the Trump administration’s wave of federal funding cuts.
The U.S. Department of Education is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to universities serving predominantly students of color — known as minority-serving institutions, or MSIs.
The move is part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on diversity initiatives.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the agency is cutting this funding because MSIs racially discriminate “by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas.”
But Michael Anthony, president of Prairie State College, a community college in Chicago Heights, said he wouldn’t describe how his school handles enrollment that way.
“These are our students,” Anthony said. “These are your citizens, your constituents that are in this community that choose to come here. 90% of our students are from the southwest Chicago region. This is not a quota. This is who lives here.”
The funding cuts could impact local Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), such as the University of Illinois Chicago and North Park University. These schools have that federal designation from having at least 25% or more Hispanic full-time enrollment. Illinois has 39 HSIs, the second-highest number after California.
Predominantly Black institutions (PBIs) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs) could also have their funds in limbo. Illinois has seven predominantly Black colleges (PBIs), the second-highest concentration after Georgia.
“Our status as a predominantly Black institution is one that we receive from the Department of Education,” Chicago State University President Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott said. “We were recertified this year by the Department of Education under this administration as a PBI, and we have two grants from the Department of Education that are predominantly Black institution grants. What it means to our students and what it means to all students and all institutions that are PBIs, that we are at risk.”
The cuts drew blowback from Democrats, who said those programs have long had bipartisan support and fueled social mobility for working-class Americans.
“It’s not about recruiting,” Governors State University President Joyce Ester said. “It’s about meeting the needs of this area and the students who have unmet needs, the students who have maybe not have been served in our society earlier on. So they need these extra supports. And we’re also talking about not just about race, but we’re talking about the impact of poverty, the impact of other kinds of things that manifest in their educational system.”
The Trump administration this week announced it would be redirecting nearly $500 million in federal funding toward historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges — a one-time investment covered primarily by the cuts to other colleges serving large numbers of minority students.
McMahon said the changes will redirect money away from “ineffective and discriminatory programs toward those which support student success.”
“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 in a statement.
The department is flexing its power to repurpose discretionary funding to match the president’s priorities — made possible through a stopgap funding bill passed by Congress this year that gives the executive branch more authority over spending decisions.
Trump has long called himself a champion of HBCUs. During his first term, Congress added $250 million a year for HBCUs. This year Trump signed an executive action that pledges an annual White House summit, an advisory board and other support for HBCUs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
