The U.S. Department of Education has rescinded funding for Skyline College’s Developing Hispanic Serving Institution (DHSI) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). This funding rescission will affect student services and events that are meant to foster belonging and comradery between students.
Cherie Colin, Skyline’s director of community relations and marketing, spoke about how these services and events are important for supporting students, and that the potential loss of them would be very harmful for the college environment.
“These are really important ways to support students, because what we found is that students are that much more successful if we take a holistic approach to supporting a student,” Colin said.
Colin added the district felt the timing of this decision was unfortunate for them.
“We’re in a different environment these days. We’re trying, as a college, to adjust, or looking to find funding elsewhere in order to continue and even possibly expand what we’re doing,” Colin said. “We’re not walking away from our commitment to the Hispanic community or the AANAPISI community at all, so this decision by the government is the antithesis of what we’re all about.”
According to Colin, Skyline is in a good economic position, as the district receives most of its funding from local taxpayer money rather than government funding. This funding rescission will not affect the general curriculum at Skyline.
In a campus announcement on Sept. 11, Skyline President Nathan Carter reiterated the district’s commitment to its Latin and Native American Pacific Islander (AANAPI) students in response to the rescission.
“Our Latine and AANAPI students are integral to the fabric of Skyline College. We remain fully dedicated to supporting their success and honoring their contributions to our community,” Carter said.
Colin added that, due to these decisions, the state is likely to provide more funding for these programs at community colleges.
“I think the state is going to step up and provide resources to the community colleges across California in order to sort of fill some of those gaps,” Colin said. “So we’re hoping that that will happen, which will mean grant money is available just from a different avenue.”
Furthermore, according to Newin Orante, Skyline’s vice president of student services, Skyline is planning to pivot towards the state-funded AANHPI (Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) grant, although there is uncertainty as to how long Skyline will be able to depend on it.
“Because the outcomes are very similar and aligned, what we’re also doing this year is we’re pivoting to use the state-funded AANHPI resources to support some of those experiences our students are not fully experiencing,” Orante said. “That’s temporary because we don’t know how much funding we’re going to continue receiving. While it’s unfortunate, I think Skyline is committed to making sure that the funding is not just the elimination of experiences, but how can we maintain the experiences despite the challenges?”
Orante additionally stated that he hopes that students and staff in the SMCCCD communicate and raise awareness about the funding rescission.
“While it’s devastating to lose a resource, when you also grow the community and network of people who understand that the work they do is directly and indirectly affecting the community that we’re serving,” Orante said. “We’re gonna weather the storm and continue being able to serve our community and students. It’s about educating people about what’s happening.”
This story was updated with information from Newin Orante, Skyline College’s vice president of student services. 10/21/2025
