“A bill to eliminate certain higher education funding to certain minority-serving institutions, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states 13 congressional findings declaring that Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) grant programs, which provide over $350 million in federal funding to institutions based on the racial or ethnic demographics of their student bodies (excluding many Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities), violate the Equal Protection Clause, induce race-based admissions discrimination prohibited by Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (600 U.S. 181, 2023), and exceed Congress's spending power; further finding that such programs disadvantage U.S. citizens amid increased immigration, serve as arbitrary proxies for need, and divert resources from the Federal Pell Grant program (which serves one-third of U.S. undergraduates under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965), whose funding increases would better aid needy students of all races.
This section limits eligibility for the Honorable Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence program—which supports teacher preparation centers at minority-serving institutions—to part B institutions (i.e., historically Black colleges and universities) and Tribal Colleges or Universities (from also including Hispanic-serving institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions, Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Predominantly Black Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and Native American-serving nontribal institutions). It further revises the Strengthening Institutions Program (Part A, title III) by (1) requiring eligible institutions not to discriminate based on race in admissions, including through racial quotas or preferences; and (2) repealing grant programs for Alaska Native-serving institutions, Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Predominantly Black Institutions, Native American-serving nontribal institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions. Finally, it repurposes the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (Part E, title III)—which supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) capacity at minority-serving institutions—by (1) renaming it the Science Opportunity Improvement Program; (2) striking all references to minorities or minority institutions and replacing them with references to Federal Pell Grant recipients; (3) revising program findings, purposes, priorities, and activities to focus on Pell recipients; (4) limiting eligibility to institutions and organizations serving substantial numbers of Pell recipients that award relevant degrees and do not discriminate based on race in admissions or hiring; and (5) prohibiting race- or ethnicity-based special treatment or considerations.
This section amends the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 1862o et seq.), the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p et seq.), and section 305 of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–5) to generally prohibit the National Science Foundation from considering the racial or ethnic composition of grantees or students in awarding broadening participation grants (i.e., programs to increase representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields) and to terminate or modify programs based on such criteria. Specifically, the section— (1) under the America COMPETES Act— (A) adds a nondiscrimination limitation to the Higher Education Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (sec. 7018) prohibiting consideration of racial or ethnic composition and awards to entities discriminating on those bases; (B) terminates the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Undergraduate Program (sec. 7020); (C) strikes sec. 7033; and (D) makes clerical and conforming amendments; (2) under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010— (A) replaces references to minority-serving institutions with institutions serving substantial numbers of Federal Pell Grant recipients; (B) in the program for partnerships engaging in research, training, and extension (sec. 508), strikes one eligibility subparagraph, redesignates others, and adds nondiscrimination limitations; and (C) strikes and replaces sec. 512 to continue the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program and Tribal Colleges and Universities Program, allowing instrumentation as a permitted use; and (3) under the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act— (A) strikes prior subsections (a)–(c); (B) redesignates and revises the remainder to replace “underrepresented populations” and “underrepresented minority groups” with “people of the United States, including Federal Pell Grant recipients and low-income individuals”; and (C) changes “promote diversity” to “promote participation,” removes multiple minority group references, and adds nondiscrimination limitations. (Thus, the amendments shift program eligibility from race- or ethnicity-based criteria to socioeconomic measures such as Pell Grant receipt while preserving programs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities.)
This section increases the total maximum Federal Pell Grant—need-based aid for low-income undergraduates—by adding award year funding beginning in 2028–2029 equal to specified additional appropriations divided by the estimated number of eligible students, as determined by the Secretary of Education. It establishes those additional appropriations under new HEA Section 401(b)(7)(A)(v) and (C) at (1) for FY2028, the savings to the federal government from amendments made by sections 3 and 4 of the PELL Act of 2025 in the first full fiscal year after enactment compared to the prior fiscal year, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget Director; and (2) for FY2029 and subsequent years, the prior year's amount increased by the percentage change in the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (with two-year availability of funds).
This section— (1) defines "minority-serving institution" to include a Hispanic-serving institution, Predominantly Black Institution, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, Alaska Native-serving institution, or Native Hawaiian-serving institution (each as defined in specified sections of the Higher Education Act of 1965); (2) directs the head of each federal agency to review, not later than one year after enactment, all federal laws under the agency's authority to identify provisions that use the term "minority-serving institution," the listed terms, or allocate funding exclusively to or provide preferences for such institutions, and submit the full list to Congress; and (3) prohibits the federal government from considering the racial or ethnic makeup of an institution of higher education (as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) or other postsecondary institution, or awarding federal financial assistance to such an institution that discriminates based on race or ethnicity (including through quotas or preferences), when making awards of federal financial assistance.