As an undergraduate studying psychology at Chico State, Gabriel Muñoz enrolled in a program that paid him to do summer research and matched him up with mentors and gave him access to career workshops.

The experience — funded by a federal grant for Hispanic Serving Institutions — sparked a love for research and he plans to enroll in a master’s program in psychology at Chico State, earn a PhD and become a college professor.

However, Muñoz will be among the last students to benefit from the program.

Chico State is losing more than $3 million in federal funds, as part of a larger cancellation of more than $350 million in grants to minority-serving institutions or MSIs around the country. Now those colleges are working to find ways to replace or do without the money, which covered research grants, laboratory equipment, curricular materials and student support programs — benefits that extended to all students.

In making the cuts last fall, the Trump administration decided that MSI programs were racially discriminatory because institutions had to enroll a percentage of students from a certain race or ethnicity to apply for funding. To be considered a Hispanic Serving Institution, or HSI, a college’s undergraduate enrollment must be at least 25% Latino.

As congressional leaders argued over final budget legislation amid the partial government shutdown this week, it appeared that some education funding, including money for HSI grants, would be restored to the proposed budget. But the Education Department would retain the authority to decide how, or if, that funding would be distributed.

Serving all students

Experts emphasize that these colleges serve many low-income and first-generation students, regardless of ethnicity.

“The thing about HSIs is that they’re so diverse,” said Marybeth Gasman, executive director of the Center for Minority-Serving Institutions at Rutgers University. “They have really large numbers of Latinx students, but they also have large numbers of Black students and Asian students and low-income white students, too. I have to stress how short-sighted it is for the federal government to take this money away.”

Chico State is one of 171 California HSIs, including universities and community colleges, and 615 across the country, according to the Hispanic Assn. of Colleges and Universities. Less than a third of these institutions nationwide received HSI funding, meaning roughly 200 colleges are now grappling with how to deal with the cuts.

Created in 1992, the HSI program was designed to help Latino students succeed in college and earn degrees by boosting support for them. Across the country, Latino students graduate at lower rates than their white counterparts — about 52% compared to 65%, according to a 2023 analysis of 2021 federal data by Excelencia in Education. And 2023 census data showed that about 21% of Latino adults had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 42% of white adults.

“It is not about affirmative action. This is not about picking students and giving students a plus because they are Black, Latino or otherwise,” said Francisca Fajana, director of racial justice strategy at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a nonprofit that advocates for Latino legal rights. “It’s really about the institutions themselves building capacity.”

The Hispanic Assn. of Colleges and Universities and LatinoJustice PRLDEF filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions, which opposes HSI funding.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said in an email that funding for HSIs was cut because the solicitor general found it unconstitutional, in a response to that lawsuit.

How the cuts hit one college

Chico State has roughly 13,000 students, about 38% of whom are Latino, according to federal data. Since earning the HSI designation a decade ago, the university has received roughly $26 million in grant funding, said Teresita Curiel, the university’s director of Latinx equity and success.

Among the programs being cut is Bridges to Baccalaureate, which provided undergraduate research opportunities and transfer student mentoring for Latino and low-income students in the behavioral and social sciences, and one called Destino that helped prepare STEM students for the workforce.

“If we’re going to be successful as a university, we have to intentionally think about how we’re going to support Latinx students — grant money or not,” said Leslie Cornick, Chico State’s provost, who is now working, with other campus leaders, to make up for lost funding.

Sabrina Marquez, who manages the Bridges to Baccalaureate and Future Scholars programs, said that in the two years those grants have been active, more than 80 students have been paid to do research, lead summer orientation or serve as mentors to transfer students.

Lupe Jimenez, who oversees the college’s Destino program, says he tries to make Latino students feel welcome on campus and in his office.

(Olivia Sanchez / The Hechinger Report)

Ysabella Marin, a senior psychology major, said her research in the Future Scholars Program has focused on the impact of social media on men’s body image.

“To me, research was always something that was kind of scary, to be honest,” Marin said. But she said she felt empowered by her experience — more confident, and more comfortable talking to professors. Now she wants to enroll in a master’s degree program to study developmental psychology.

At other colleges, leaders have been working to keep similar programs running.

At Southwestern College in the San Diego area, college President Mark Sanchez said the school’s leaders will not sacrifice a program that helps first-year students adjust to campus life. The college serves a bi-national community of students living in the United States and Mexico; many are the first in their family to go to college. Sanchez said the program has been extended to students in their second year. Instead of being funded with HSI grant money, Sanchez said the programs will be paid for by the college’s general fund.

Cal State Channel Islands has received roughly $40 million in HSI grant funding in the last decade, said Jessica Lavariega Monforti, the university’s provost. Most of the money has gone toward programs to support the academic success of Latino and low-income students, she said.

Among those being discontinued is one called Soar at CI, which in part strengthened transfer pipelines from nearby community colleges, she said. Students offered career mentoring to younger students, hosted a podcast and invited alumni back to campus to host workshops on career preparedness. Lavariega Monforti said that leaders will try to incorporate aspects of this program into other areas.

At Chico State, Matthew Hernandez, a senior computer science major, enrolled in both a computer science boot camp, funded through Destino, and a calculus boot camp in the summer before his freshman year. He said he went from scoring 44/100 before the boot camp to a near perfect score by the end.

Data from the university show that students involved in such STEM support programs were more likely to stay enrolled after their first year — 92% compared to 86% of their peers in similar majors who did not receive support. They were also more likely to graduate — 63% within six years, compared to 58% of their peers without assistance.

Muñoz said he is not abandoning graduate school aspirations, despite limited funding opportunities due to the cuts. He said he plans to pay what he can out of pocket and apply for student loans to cover the rest.

Sanchez writes for the the Hechinger Report, which produced this story and is a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.