Bay Area universities lost more than $2 million in funds after the Trump administration announced it was rerouting money meant for minority-serving institutions to charter schools and other educational programs, an analysis by Bay Area News Group has revealed.
In September, the Department of Education announced it was ending $350 million in discretionary funding for several minority-serving grant programs, alleging the programs were “racially discriminatory” because qualifying schools must maintain a percentage of minority students in their total student enrollment.
The grants that were slashed supported schools that served a higher population of Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students, black students, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander students, Native American students and Hispanic students. Funds for the programs were meant to help schools expand and improve their capacity to serve minority students, including improving retention and graduation rates, increasing transfer student enrollment and creating a sense of belonging for students.
A sign inside the Ethnic Resource Center in Quarry Plaza at University of California Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. Schools in the Bay Area lost more than $2 million in funding, which supports student resource centers, undergrad research opportunities and programs to help support and retain historically marginalized student groups. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Related Articles
Opinion: Apple’s translating AirPods won’t work without state’s language grads Newsom signs bill to automatically admit qualified graduates to CSU system UC Berkeley professor Omar M. Yaghi shares Nobel Prize in chemistry with two other scientists Chabria: McCarthyism in a MAGA hat? Trump’s campus deal sounds familiar to her Letters: Gavin Newsom’s funding threat sounds like simple extortionAll but one of California State University’s 22 campuses meet the criteria to qualify as a Hispanic-serving institution — meaning at least 25% of the campus’ student body are Hispanic students and at least half of all degree-seeking students are low-income — and 11 of the university systems campuses qualify as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution — meaning at least 10% of the school’s undergraduate enrollment are Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander and at least half of all students are low-income. In the Bay Area, CSU campuses at East Bay, San Francisco and San Jose qualify for both grant programs.
Five of UC’s nine undergraduate campuses are designated Hispanic-serving institutions, including campuses at Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, while the remaining four — UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA and UC San Diego — are emerging HSIs. The University of California also said all nine of its campuses are Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions.
CSU said it lost 29 minority-serving institution grants — amounting to about $43 million in cancelled funding. UC did not say how much funding the system lost from the cuts, but Vincent Rasso, the director of government relations at the UC Student Association, said UC’s office of federal government relations told the student group that UC receives upwards of $12 million in minority-serving institution funding. California community colleges will also likely be hit the hardest, with nearly 100 community colleges considered minority-serving institutions and an estimated $20 million in funding cuts.
In the Bay Area, schools that responded to requests from this news organization reported losing more than $2 million in program funds. For the 2025-26 year, San Jose City College lost $597,217 in funding, while Evergreen Valley college lost $375,000. CSU East Bay said the campus lost $583,473 in funding. UC Berkeley said the campus lost $388,894 in funding for the 2025-26 year and the campus was also expected to receive about $400,000 in funds for 2026-27 and 2027-28. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District said it lost one grant which was expected to end in September 2026 with a balance of less than $270,000 left.
Many schools in the Bay Area used the funds to support student cultural centers and student learning communities, create research fellowships, recruit faculty, develop and improve academic programs or establish community outreach programs to encourage young students to pursue higher education, including through high school dual enrollment.
Benjamin Diaz, student and Vice Chair of External Affairs, stands in front of Crown College House at University of California Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. Schools in the Bay Area lost more than $2 million in funding, which supports student resource centers, undergrad research opportunities and programs to help support and retain historically marginalized student groups. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Ben Diaz, a Latino junior political science student at UC Santa Cruz said the university’s Hispanic-Serving Institution grant supports many resources for students, including its Chicanx Latinx Resource Center, El Centro.
Diaz said as a student from Southern California new to the campus and area, El Centro helped connect him to the Latinx community and several Latino organizations.
“Without El Centro, I think I would’ve had a really hard time just being away from home and focusing on my studies,” Diaz said. “But having that center of support provides reassurance while I’m away from home and pursuing my education.”
The Trump administration announced last month that the Department of Education would cease funding for all new and continuing grants, instead reprograming the funding for “other priorities,” including charter schools, American history and civics programs and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). HBCUs and TCCUs are open to all students, although to be designated a HBCU the college’s principal mission must be the education of black Americans and TCCUs must have a majority of “Indian” students.
Rasso, the director of government relations at the UC Student Association, pointed out that five days after the administration announced it was cutting funding for minority-serving institutions, Trump officials gave HBCUs and TCCUs an additional $495 million in one-time funding.
“This administration’s really trying to pit institutions and turn students of color against one another because they’re playing politics with this grant funding that is intended to ensure that students from any background have access to education,” Rasso said. “It’s so frustrating to witness. This is pre-appropriated funding that now has to be litigated or fought over.”
According to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities — which filed a federal lawsuit against the administration’s attempt to dismantle the program — California had the most Hispanic undergraduate students enrolled for the 2023-24 school year in the nation, with 986,795 students enrolled — about 45% of the state’s entire undergraduate student body.
University leaders across the state and Bay Area expressed deep concern over the administration’s decision to end funding for the programs and warned the move would have a severe impact on students across California.
UC Berkeley said the cutting of funds will erode critical student support services like tutoring and academic counseling and restrict money for resources that could lead to lower retention and graduation rates for students who often rely on the aid most.
Beatriz Chaidez, the chancellor of San Jose Evergreen Community College District said the “unprecedented” action will impede community colleges across the nation from helping students succeed and harm all students who attend, not just minority students.
“The MSI program was never about preferential treatment; it is about equitable resource allocation to ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed,” Chaidez said. “Without it, our ability to prepare the next generation of leaders, innovators, and workers will be negatively impacted.”
UC student Diaz said as a student who has benefitted from the grant program’s resources, he worries about how the cuts will impact minority student retention at UC campuses.
“These grants help marginalized communities who have been ousted from higher education…They help students feel seen, supported and capable of thriving in spaces that essentially weren’t always built for us,” Diaz said. “Students across the UC deserve campuses that directly reflect and serve the diversity of California. And that’s what’s at stake here.”
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