AASCU Federal Highlights – August 2025

DOJ Declines to Defend HSIs in Ongoing Lawsuit

On Friday, media outlets reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has no plans to defend Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in the recent court filing from the State of Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against the U.S. Department of Education (ED). As a reminder, SFFA won its case two years ago against Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the grounds of discriminatory admissions processes. In this HSI court filing, Tennessee and SFFA argue that the criteria for becoming an HSI are unconstitutional and discriminatory.

To qualify as an HSI, a college or university must have a student body that is at least 25% Hispanic and enroll at least 50% low-income students, or more than comparable institutions, along with meeting other requirements. However, according to the court filing, none of the public institutions of higher education in Tennessee meet these thresholds, which prevents them from applying for HSI-specific grants, even though they serve Hispanic and low-income students. Without support from DOJ in court action, the future of federal funding for these programs could be in jeopardy. AASCU will monitor this issue closely, report on developments, and engage accordingly.