Updated at 2:50 p.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025.
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Colorado universities enrolling the highest percentages of students of color will lose millions of dollars after a recent decision by the Trump administration.
The U.S. Department of Education announced on Sept. 10 that it will end $350 million in discretionary funding for Minority-Serving Institutions, known as MSIs. These colleges are federally designated as MSIs because they serve a greater percentage of students of color, including Native American and Hispanic students.
The Trump administration plans to redirect the funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and tribal colleges, which are different from the MSI designations because they’re identified based on the history of the institution or who controls them.
Colorado does not have any HBCUs or tribal colleges. It has 14 public MSIs, six of which receive federal grant funding. The decision means schools won’t get the money promised to them starting in October.
Statewide, the cuts will most affect two-year colleges and schools that enroll more students from rural communities. School leaders say they’re still evaluating how the cuts will affect student services.
For instance, the Colorado Community College System will lose about $5.1 million at three of its seven colleges designated as HSIs.
Morgan Community College, Lamar Community College, and Pueblo Community College use the money for programs that include student retention and student support efforts, said Fiona Lytle, system spokesperson.
The Education Department news release said federal officials believe the grant programs discriminate by benefitting schools that meet racial or ethnic quotas.
“To further our commitment to ending discrimination in all forms across federally supported programs, the Department will no longer award Minority-Serving Institution grants that discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
Congress created different MSI designations over several decades. For example, the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation, created in 1992, is given to schools that enroll at least 25% Hispanic students.
Advocates say the federal grants help students of color and students from lower-income families who are less likely to go to college. They also argue the money benefits all students, including rural and white students, at many schools that enroll almost every student that applies.
The Trump administration and conservative activists have wanted to end these programs. The grant programs already face cuts in the 2026 fiscal year budget. And a lawsuit by a conservative group argues Hispanic-Serving Institution funding is discriminatory.
Colorado has four universities that are designated HSIs — the University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University Pueblo, Adams State University, and the University of Colorado Denver. Fort Lewis College is the state’s only Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution.
Of those four-year schools, Adams State, CSU Pueblo, and Fort Lewis College receive federal funds.
Adams State, the state’s oldest HSI, was recently awarded a $3 million grant over five years in 2024 to improve college preparation, student advising, and cultural understanding.
In an interview with CPR News Monday, Adams State president David Tandberg said that the loss of MSI funding is especially painful for a small rural university like his, which has relied on federal support to test out new ideas.
“We were the first federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, at least among the universities in Colorado. And that's allowed us to have consistent federal support to innovate, to better serve our students through their grant program,” Tandberg told CPR News. “That means a lot when you're a small rural institution, you don't have a lot of budget flexibility to do some of the things that you'd want to do to innovate.”
He pointed to the school’s one-stop student support services as an example of a program seeded with federal dollars.
“We retain more students, we provide a better experience for them, and so it really pays itself,” Tandberg said.
Adams State is currently in the second year of a five-year, multi-million-dollar grant — money that will be cut off within months, he added.
“We'll lose that basically, almost four years of funding because of the end of this program,” he said. “Money that we were already promised.”
The president also emphasized that while Adams State is federally designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, the benefits of that funding extend to all students.
“Let's be real, the programs that we've been able to implement, the offices, the services, they're for all students, race does not matter at all. And so every student at Adams State has benefited,” Tandberg said.
He acknowledged the national political debate over higher education and race-based funding, but contrasted it with local pride in Adams State. Tandberg expressed confidence in Adams State’s resilience and in the San Luis Valley’s history of coming together during hard times.
“We've never not faced adversity, and yet we have always risen,” Tandberg said. “I have complete faith that collectively together we can rise and face those challenges in a way that ensures our students have what they need it.”
University officials plan to seek additional support from private and individual donors, as well as other financial sources.
“This challenge only strengthens our resolve,” said Linda Relyea, an Adams State University spokesperson.
CSU Pueblo became a Hispanic-Serving Institution in 2007 and has three active grants that will be discontinued. The school will lose $3.6 million over the next three years.
The school can use 2024 money to continue providing student services into fall 2026, but spokesperson Gena Alfonso said in an email that “the remaining resources are not sufficient to continue programs at their current level.”
“We are in the process of identifying the most critical student support services, such as advising, tutoring, and other programs that support student retention and graduation,” she said.
Fort Lewis College received its designation in 2008. School spokesperson Nardy Bickel said the federal money supports Southwest Colorado’s Four Corners region and Indigenous students.
The school won’t be able to spend $2.27 million in the final two years of a five-year grant.
The money supports the entire campus, including a summer and first-year support program that helps students get acclimated to college, she said. The money also helps keep students on track to graduating.
“For many of these students, FLC provides a crucial path to an affordable four-year college degree while remaining close to their families and communities,” Bickel said. “We are disappointed about the decision to cut funding to this program, which will be felt deeply across our campus.”
And Colorado Mountain College, which offers two- and four-year degree programs, doesn’t receive federal money as a designated HSI, but did submit a $5 million grant proposal this year. A school spokesperson said he does not expect the application will be considered.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at [email protected].
CPR News' Ryan Warner contributed to this story.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with quotes from Adams State University's president who was interviewed by CPR News.
