How federal funding cuts for Hispanic Serving Institutions could hurt Arizona

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Education is rolling back more than $250 million dollars in funding for Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI).

An HSI is designated for universities where at least a quarter of undergraduate enrollment is Hispanic. Arizona has 20 HSIs, including Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona.

Once a college has its HSI designation, it can apply for federal funding to support Hispanic students.

On Sept. 10, the Department of Education announced $350 million dollars in funding to HSIs, among other programs, would be cut.

How Arizona schools are impacted by cuts to Hispanic Serving Institutions

Martin Quezada with the Arizona Latino School Board Association says taking away the program’s funding could severely impact students, especially in a state like Arizona.

“Without that funding, it’s really going to shut the door on a population that is still very underrepresented in higher education and underrepresented in in graduate level studies,” he said.

Hispanic students in Arizona make up 32% of undergraduate enrollment.

Quezada explained that the HSI program provides students with academic, financial, and cultural support for navigating the university system and beyond.

The cuts will have long-lasting impacts on Arizona’s economy and workforce, he said.

“I think the people of Arizona should see this as a direct attack on our population … because these are the students that are going to be our professionals in the future. They’re the ones that are going to be running this state, that are going to be our doctors, our lawyers, our political figures,” he said.

In the Department of Education’s announcement about the funding cuts, the HSI program was called “unconstitutional” due to “racial quotas,” something Quezada said doesn’t make sense in a state like Arizona.

“Their rationale is really laughable … the fact that they’re looking at a 25% quota as being too much when in fact in a lot of cases that’s not even meeting the actual demographic of the population that those institutions serve,” he explained.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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