Skip to content 
National analysis reveals more than 600 institutions nationwide are identified as Hispanic-Serving Institutions, but federal funding cuts are creating challenges.
The Trump administration eliminated $350 million in competitive grants to HSIs and other Minority-Serving Institutions. Deborah Santiago, co-founder and CEO of Excelencia in Education said Title Five funds help these institutions provide a quality education for Latino and all students.
Southern Adventist University – Tennessee’s only HSI – earned a grant in 2023, and it can no longer meet certain academic goals after funding was cut.
“So one was to improve their academic programs, and they were going to reimagine and relaunch the Summer Bridge Program,” said Santiago. “And that serves, again, all students. It wasn’t specific to Hispanics. They now were not able to do that. They had started it with two years of funding, and this grant is a five-year grant. They only got two years of it.”
She added that the administration redirected those funds to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal colleges in 2025. The decision followed a Tennessee-led legal challenge that argued the HSI program is discriminatory and unfair to Tennessee schools.
Santiago noted that the grant would have expanded support beyond the first year, helping high-need students stay on track to graduate. It also aimed to improve the school’s financial stability by enhancing operating efficiency and reducing costs through evidence-based decisions.
She added that there are 2,600 students at Southern Adventist University, about 700 of whom are Hispanic, and that they’re not getting that support.
“The goal of this federal funding was not to exclude students, but rather to better identify institutions that were trying to take innovative and leadership roles in serving students directly, and figuring out ways to improve that,” said Santiago, “and that now goes away, and even the option of getting that funding as an HSI doesn’t exist anymore.”
Santiago explained that Tennessee has three “emerging HSIs,” colleges with Hispanic enrollment between 15% and 24.9%, which could qualify to compete for federal funding as they grow.
HSIs are defined as schools with at least 25% Hispanic undergrad enrollment. She warns that losing federal support could limit opportunities for under-resourced colleges trying to better serve Latino students.
Federal funding cuts threaten TN Hispanic-Serving Institutions was first published by Public News Service and was republished with permission.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.