THE Hispanic association of colleges and universities joins a legal struggle on the fate of a federal program aimed at combating educational disparities in higher education.
This week, the association, better known as hacu, filed a request for intervention In a federal trial which seeks to dismantle the program of Hispanic operating institutions (HSI) – which offers federal subsidies to universities and colleges with a student body which exceeds 25% Latin.
The program Created by Congress Offer subsidies to universities that have already educated the country’s majority of Hispanic students to extend their ability to help “Hispanic students and other low -income people ended with post -secondary diplomas”.
Hacu is now part of the effort launched last month by students for fair admissions – the same group behind the legal challenges that led to Supreme Court writes positive college action programs In 2023 – and the state of Tennessee to continue the Ministry of Education in relation to the HSI program. They allege him “Discriminant based on ethnic originAnd call on the Federal Court to consider it unconstitutional.
The association representing Hispanic universities also alleges that the trial unjustly characterizes the HSI program, because the additional resources of subsidies benefit the entire student body of the institution.
“We want our side of history to be heard by the court before deciding on the case,” Dr Antonio R. Flores, president and chief executive officer of Hacu said on Friday.
Flores said that schools designed by HSI do not automatically obtain subsidies according to the number of Hispanic students on their campus. They must “compete with each other” to access money and must prove that the majority of their students are at low income and that they “spend less money per student than their peer establishments”.
“This is not a preferential treatment. It is a fair allocation of resources for institutions,” said Flores.
Thursday, in legal files, students for fair admissions and the state of Tennessee did not oppose Hacu’s request to join the case as a defendant.
The Ministry of Education has not yet responded to the complaint in court. Nor did he respond to an email from NBC News asking for comments on Friday.
To identify which colleges and universities serve the majority of Hispanic students in the country, the Congress has defined Hispanic establishments like those who have at least 25% of its full -time student population. Hispanic or Latin descent.
The HSI designation is based on geography and demography, Fran Fajana, lawyer at Latinojustice Hacu representative in this case, told NBC News. “It is not because the institution has done everything possible to recruit many Latin students.”
The percentage of Latinos with a university degree is still far behind white students. In 2022, around 21% of Latin adults over 25 had a baccalaureate, compared to 42% for non -Hispanic whites, According to census figures.
Students for fair admissions, led by conservative activist Ed Blum, described the requirement of 25% “” “Arbitrary ethnic threshold“When he published A press release About the June 11 trial.
“This pursuit disputes a federal policy which conditions the reception of subsidies funded by taxpayers on the racial composition of a student body,” said Blum in a statement last month.
The office of the attorney general of Tennessee Jonathan Skrmetti declared in Another declaration From this, the “rule leaves many students in need in the cold”.
“The discriminatory subsidy standards of the HSI program are just as illegal,” Skrmetti said in the press release.
Their trial is part of a series of legal challenges presented in recent years – following the decision of the Supreme Court on positive action – against schools, scholarships, internships and other educational programs which mention the race or ethnicity in their criteria.
Once an institution has obtained a subsidy in a competitive way, there is no requirement in the HSI program limiting the way these resources are distributed through the school, said Fajana.
“If they have obtained resources to extend their scientific program laboratories [or]Capacity building, “she said,” these resources are not limited to Latin students. “”
A 2023 Study From the Urban Institute noted that the investments made by the establishments designated by HSI increased the number of students from all races and ethnic groups that obtained the college and obtained baccalaureate diplomas.
“What’s at stake?” Flores said: “The success of the progress of, not only of the Latin community, but from all the students who go to the HSIS and benefit from funding”.
