Hispanic-Serving College Program Is Discriminatory, Lawsuit Argues

New York Times

11-06-2025

The state of Tennessee and the group that successfully sued Harvard to stop race-conscious college admissions is challenging a federal program that provides tens of millions of dollars a year to colleges that serve Hispanic students.
The lawsuit, brought by Students for Fair Admissions, targets a program to support so-called Hispanic Serving Institutions, which include schools that meet a threshold of 25 percent Hispanic enrollment. The complaint says the program violates state and federal anti-discrimination laws and the Constitution because it provides a benefit — additional federal funding — to those schools.
All public institutions of higher learning in Tennessee serve Hispanic and low-income students, the lawsuit says, yet none of them qualify for these grants because their Hispanic enrollment is below 25 percent.
'The H.S.I. program does not pursue the general welfare,' says the complaint, which was filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. 'It pursues the welfare of one ethnic group at the expense of everyone else, including other Hispanic students whose schools miss an arbitrary ethnic cutoff.'
The lawsuit is part of a volley of challenges in recent years against schools and programs, including scholarships and internships, that use racial or ethnic criteria. Conservative activists have filed multiple lawsuits since the Supreme Court effectively struck down affirmative action college admissions in 2023, in litigation brought by Students for Fair Admissions. The targets of litigation often close the program rather than devote the substantial resources needed to defend it in court.
A group called the American Alliance for Equal Rights has filed at least 10 lawsuits alleging discrimination in various public and private programs, including the nonprofit, venture capital and legal arenas.
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