The Department of Education is funneling nearly $500 million in federal funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges, a one-time investment largely financed by cuts to other minority-serving institutions.

The Education Department announced the boost just days after slashing $350 million from programs that primarily serve colleges with large Hispanic student populations. Agency leaders argued those grants were unconstitutional because they’re open only to schools with certain minority enrollment requirements.

“The Department has carefully scrutinized our federal grants, ensuring that taxpayers are not funding racially discriminatory programs but those programs which promote merit and excellence in education,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said of the changes.

There was executive action taken earlier this year for the Education Department to shift extra federal money toward things like charter schools and school choice programs. This was allowed because Congress passed a temporary funding bill that gave the White House more control over how some education dollars could be spent. 

The cuts rolled back decades of precedent, including the Hispanic-Serving Institution program created in 1998 to address low Latino college graduation rates. Critics, including congressional Democrats, say the decision undermines social mobility for working-class students.

A July Justice Department memo claimed the Hispanic-Serving Institution grants were unconstitutional. The department declined to defend the program in a lawsuit brought by Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions, which argues the funding discriminates against schools that don’t meet the arbitrary ethnic threshold.