BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Department of Education has pulled roughly $350 million in grants for minority-serving institutions across the country, creating major disruptions on college campuses including California State University, Bakersfield.
The decision may impact CSUB's plans to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. CSUB is one of 21 California State University campuses designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or HSIs.
Over the past three years, CSUB has received $15 million in HSI grants used for research, programs to recruit students and financial aid. Dr. Mark A. Martinez, a professor with CSUB, said the money is not just for Hispanic students but for anyone in need of financial support.
"Some people literally will stop going to school because they don't have the books or they don't have enough money for the tuition, and so this is pretty significant. And so what we're talking about are programs that are designed to give a hand up rather than a hand out," Martinez said.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said programs like HSIs "illegally restrict eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas" and "violate the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause."
Martinez argued the Equal Protection Clause means equal opportunity for all, including for those who cannot afford to go to college.
"And this is, I think, is one of the problems that we have with the Trump administration, they simply believe everybody has access to an extra pool of money and that everybody can do this on their own," Martinez said.
Martinez pointed to the G.I. Bill from the 1940s, which paid for qualifying veterans and their families to go to college. He said it's an example showing the benefits of an educated society.
"What came and emerged out of that in the 1950s and 1960s was an economic boom, because we helped to educate people who traditionally did not get an education," Martinez said.
Following the Department of Education's decision to pull the funds, CSU Chancellor Mildred García released a statement which reads in part: "Federal HSI funding is used by the CSU to support all CSU students, not just Hispanic students. It not only helps advance the CSU's educational mission, but it also supports CSU's efforts to carry out our core values of inclusive excellence, social mobility, authentic access to higher education and equity in all its dimensions."
Martinez hopes that state lawmakers will decide to fund HSIs through other means, but believes colleges across the country will suffer without the crucial federal support.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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