West Valley community college district sponsors bill to address loss of federal funding

The West Valley-Mission Community College District sponsored a bill that would protect minority student support programs targeted by federal cuts.

State Assemblyman Marc Berman–a Democrat who represents Saratoga, Campbell and a large portion of the Peninsula and San Mateo County–introduced Assembly Bill 2121, the Defending Student Equity and Access Act. It would remove barriers that prevent community colleges from backfilling the loss of federal funding. In September, the Trump administration terminated $350 million in Minority Serving Institution (MSI) grants, with plans to eliminate the program altogether. The cuts would also eliminate TRIO, a federal program that supports first-generation and low-income community college students.

“The Trump administration’s assault on higher education is an attack on historically marginalized students who rely on these critical programs to stay in school and succeed,” said Berman in a release. “When President Trump pulls the rug out from under our most vulnerable students, California must fight back, holding firm to our values of equity and access to higher education. AB 2121 empowers our community colleges to save these programs and continue supporting their students, who deserve better than to become collateral damage in this administration’s cruel agenda.”

MSI programs support Hispanic Serving Institutions, also known as HSIs, and Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, or AANHPIs, and other colleges serving high concentrations of underrepresented students. More than 90% of California’s community colleges are designated HSI, and the state receives about 70% of all federal HSI funding. About 50 community colleges participate in the AANHPI Student Achievement Program. TRIO programs serve low-income and first-generation students nationwide through tutoring, mentoring, college application assistance and financial aid guidance. California has over 440 TRIO projects that receive over $150 million in federal funding.

These programs significantly increase college completion rates for students who would otherwise be less likely to persist, according to the press release. MSI and TRIO programs serve more than 1.6 million California community college students.

“Community colleges exist to serve students who have been historically excluded from opportunity,” Chancellor Bradley J. Davis of the West Valley-Mission Community College District said in the release. “Federal efforts to dismantle equity-driven programs strike at the heart of that mission. This bill ensures that California law does not compound that harm by preventing colleges from sustaining critical support for their students.”

California has a Fifty Percent Law that requires community colleges to spend at least 50 percent of their expenditures on classroom instructors; federal grant money is excluded from this law. However, if the institutions want to backfill the gap in federal funding, the Fifty Percent Law would apply to the replacement funds, which would impact compliance and penalize community colleges for trying to help students. If passed, Berman’s bill would allow community colleges to backfill the loss of federal funding without it applying to the Fifty Percent Law.

“I’m first-generation, and honestly, without AANHPI or TRIO, I wouldn’t be here,” said Miya Torres, a West Valley College student, in the release. “The advisors and tutors who checked in when things got hard are the reason I’m still enrolled. That’s the reason a lot of us are. If those programs disappear, it’s not just a budget line. It’s real students who don’t make it through.”

The bill does not request state funding or create any state backfill requirement and would take effect immediately, sunsetting after five years or when federal funding is restored. The bill also includes transparency requirements, annual district certifications and safeguards for faculty, like not reducing spending on classroom instructors.