Ranking Member Scott Statement on Education Department Ending Funding for Minority Serving Institutions
WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) released the following statement after the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) issued an opinion on the constitutionality of the Department of Education’s Minority Serving Institution Program.
“A college degree remains the surest path to financial stability. This is particularly true for low-income students and students of color whose educational and workforce opportunities have historically been limited by intergenerational poverty and systemic racism. Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) serve roughly five million students, or about one-third of all undergraduate students in America. These institutions are effective engines of economic mobility because they meet students where they are and are dedicated to educating the whole person.
“As President Johnson said when he signed the Higher Education Act (HEA) into law, the law meant, ‘that a high school senior anywhere in this great land of ours can apply to any college or any university in any of the 50 States and not be turned away because [their] family is poor.’ Today’s actions are deeply at odds with the fundamental goal of HEA to ensure all students, regardless of their background, can access an affordable, quality degree.”
Background: The Department of Education will no longer operate the following programs after the Department of Justice issued an opinion that they are unconstitutional: Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions, Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans, Hispanic Serving Institutions–STEM Programs, Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program, Predominantly Black Institutions formula grants, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, and Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program. The Predominantly Black Institutions competitive grants, and components of the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program and Student Support Services are also affected but may continue to operate in some form.
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