The Big Story: Senate impasse threatens funding for AANAPI-serving institutions

Activists fear that Congress has created a cloud of uncertainty over some AAPI college programs

Editor’s Note: This is a preview of the October 14, 2019 edition of The Yappie, a newsletter about Asian American power, politics, and influence. Subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter every Monday morning, with additional coverage and resources. Subscribe for free here.

Congress’ failure to reauthorize more than $255 million in critical funding for the nation’s minority-serving educational institutions last month has thrown the future of some college AAPI programs into doubt. Here are the details…

• What’s happening: For nearly a decade, Congress has allocated millions of dollars to Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) under the Higher Education Act. The federal funding has been used to strengthen programming for low-income or first-generation AAPI students, and a two-year extension was approved by the House through the bipartisan FUTURE Act in September.
• But the bill was blocked from moving forward in the Senate by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), who is seeking to address the funding in a broader higher education package, Education Dive reports. Alexander has put forward his own legislation that would make the $255 million in funding to minority-serving institutions permanent.
• Why this matters: While the U.S. Department of Education says that money for AANAPISIs will carry over through the next fiscal year, AAPI activists fear that Congress has created a cloud of uncertainty over the agency’s 14 AANAPISI grants, which total around $4.5 million. The federal government designates an institution as an AANAPISI if at least 10 percent of its students are AAPI (among other eligibility requirements), and Asian-serving institutions have historically struggled to attract visibility and resources compared to Hispanic-serving institutions and HBCUs.
• The impacts: The potential loss of funding is already threatening the existence of AAPI-focused programs across the country, including the University of Minnesota’s Asian Pacific American Resource Center (APARC). The center, which serves as “the only University-run Asian American and Pacific Islander identity-based resource” at UMN, is nearing the tail-end of a five-year AANAPISI grant and may not have access to future funds, according to Minnesota Daily reporter Farrah Mina.
• What’s next: Congressional Democrats are gearing up to push for a substantial funding boost for the AANAPISI program as lawmakers prepare to negotiate the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, according to a list of policy priorities signed off by Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus chair Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-California).

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