Historically Black colleges see funding boost despite Trump's war on DEI
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The headquarters of the Department of Education are shown March 12, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
The Trump administration is redirecting millions in funds to historically Black colleges and universities and tribal universities days after it cut off some grants for colleges with large numbers of Hispanic students.
The big picture: President Trump has sought to eliminate so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies across American institutions, notably on college campuses and in their admissions offices. But at the same time, he's tried to align himself with historically Black universities.
Driving the news: The Education Department announced Monday it would direct nearly $500 million to HBCUs and tribal colleges and universities.
- The one-time investment is a nearly 50% increase in funding for HBCUs while it more than doubles the amount tribal colleges received.
- Hampton University President Darrell Williams said in a statement provided to Axios that the university was "deeply grateful" for the funding.
- "These investments in Hampton and other historically Black colleges and universities reflect confidence in our proven value to the fabric of higher education institutions and the need to fund our universities at significantly higher levels," Williams said.
- Several other HBCUs did not respond to Axios' requests for comment.
Flashback: Trump has positioned himself as a champion for HBCUs.
- In his first term, he signed a bipartisan law that secured more than $250 million each year to HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, and his administration forgave millions in federal relief loans for four institutions affected by hurricanes.
- In April, he signed an executive order establishing the "White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities."
- But the NAACP said the order hid an "empty gesture in the guise of a well-meaning policy initiative" as the administration is "dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the country, and the federal funding that HBCUs rely on for growth, innovation, and sustainability has been systematically eliminated."
Catch up quick: On Wednesday, the Department of Education announced it end funding for grant programs at colleges with large Hispanic populations, saying they "discriminate by conferring government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas."
- Instead, that money will now be "reprogrammed into programs that do not include discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas and that advance Administration priorities."
- The Education Department pointed to a July memo to Congress in which the solicitor general said the Justice Department would not defend provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 related to Hispanic-serving institutions.
Zoom out: The anti-DEI initiative has spread beyond colleges and universities, as the Department of Education has warned state K-12 pograms their federal funding is contingent on complying with Trump's orders.
Go deeper: Trump's DEI order raises fears of anti-diversity "witch hunt"
Editor's note: This story was updated with a statement from the president of Hampton University.
