Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. We're going to talk next about a little-reported Trump administration funding cut that's affecting community colleges in our area and around the country, and certain populations within community colleges in particular. Let me explain and set the scene a little bit. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, so much of the national discussion around higher ed centers on elite schools with single-digit acceptance rates, but most of our nation students rely on public colleges and universities, and particularly community colleges.

According to the American Association of Community Colleges, 39% of all undergraduates and 49% of all Hispanic students who are undergrads attend community college. These are the schools that help students so much ascend into the middle class. Now those schools are under a particular set of new financial threats from the Trump administration. Last fall, they canceled a few kinds of grants, including Title V grants. That's Title V of an Education Act that dates back to 2008.

Title V grants that funded Hispanic serving institutions in particular, especially if they have a certain percentage of low-income students. The Trump administration calls these Title V grants racially discriminatory. The Education Department said the grants violate equal protection by, in their words, "conferring government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas," and that the grants violate the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.

Community colleges are bearing the brunt of these cuts. Some four-year colleges, but very much community colleges. We're going to talk to somebody in the thick of it. With me now is Dr. Belinda Miles, President of SUNY's Westchester Community College. Dr. Miles, thanks so much for coming on WNYC.

Dr. Belinda Miles: My pleasure, thanks for having me, Brian. Good morning.

Brian Lehrer: You want to set the scene first for people who are not familiar with Westchester Community College. Where in Westchester are you? I see you have over 10,000 number of students, and who do they tend to be demographically in any way?

Dr. Belinda Miles: Certainly. Thank you for that question. We are a community college. Communities are middle names. We serve all students throughout the community, and we are an open-door institution. That's a distinction of community colleges. We were formed to be institutions, accessible, affordable, high-quality education. When we open the door, students come, and we have to constantly think about the best way to serve students so that they can have an experience that gets them through to degree completion, and then onto the upward mobility that they're seeking through employment opportunities or transfer to four-year institutions.

Our students are mainly working folks who have part-time jobs or full-time jobs, attending school part-time, many receive financial aid, and many use the resources that are available at the institution to support their learning, such as advising and tutoring, and the like. These are so important, especially as many of our students are first-generation and may not have the kinds of supports in their homes or communities that can help them to navigate the college experience.

Brian Lehrer: You said many of them are working. What percentage are in the 18 to 20-year-old age range that a person might traditionally think of as in the first two years of college, and how many are older people?

Dr. Belinda Miles: Whatever the exact number is or percentage, it's declining. When we look at demographics and birth rates, we know that that has decreased over recent years, certainly over the past decade. We have more initiatives that are trying to attract older students to come back to school. In New York State, we've made a big commitment, a big push to have what we call SUNY Reconnect. We align very closely with programs at the City University of New York, SUNY being the State University of New York.

Our governor has put emphasis on programs that are high-need areas for employment and ensuring that those students can attend for free tuition. That's been a wonderful opportunity. We have more than 600 students currently at SUNY Westchester who are in our Reconnect program, and this is for students who are between 25 and 55. It seems to be working.

Brian Lehrer: Before we get into the specific percentage of Latino students at Westchester Community College and the loss of the federal funding that was tied to that population, just one more general background question, because I see that community college enrollment is up nationally and locally, SUNY community colleges, including yours and CUNY ones, have both seen three straight years of growth. What's driving that at Westchester? Is skepticism about the economic value of a four-year degree, sending more people your way, or how would you account for it?

Dr. Belinda Miles: We believe that we've put a lot of effort into tweaking our system so that we are a more student-ready college. At SUNY Westchester, we took some time coming back from the pandemic, where we had a major experience with online courses. We were less than 3% prior to the pandemic, and then of course, we were close to 100% during the pandemic. We used that as an opportunity, our faculty and our academic leadership to really take a close look at the schedule to see how could we get students back on campus. Many really enjoyed the remote learning experience and preferred it, but we also knew from our data that students were learning best when they were on campus and enjoying a collegiate experience. We used different types of software systems to help us with maximizing the use of the facilities on campus and tweaking the schedule in ways that we can have a robust evening program, a more efficient day program, and making those manipulations to the schedule that would ensure that our students could be here.

We even examined bus routes and the transportation patterns for our students. We were also very heavily focused on improving some of the factors that lead to higher completion for our students. I think that many of those systems are better advising more guided pathways for students so that they can navigate the curriculum and the types of supports that could help them to get through to completion.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Let's get into the cuts. I see from your own stats on this that Title V grants fund campuses that have a student population that is at least 50% low income and at least 25% Hispanic. That would include Westchester Community College.

Dr. Belinda Miles: It does indeed. Our enrollment is 47% Hispanic. We have many Pell Grant recipients. Many students are receiving state aid as well. This is an initiative that supports many students at our institution. It's been a devastating loss to see that reduction in funds. Many of our students are full-time. Some have had to drop down to part-time. We don't want them to leave or stop out. We know that that's a problem. We're really grateful for programs like the SUNY Reconnect, which invites students back in and provides them with lots of supports.

Brian Lehrer: The Trump administration's argument is that these grants are unconstitutional. That tying eligibility to a school's racial or ethnic demographics amounts to a quota system that violates the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause. How do you respond to that?

Dr. Belinda Miles: I would say that that's a common misperception and certainly is worthy of a deeper dive. When we look more broadly at the low-income aspect of the eligibility, it covers a broad swath of students at SUNY Westchester. Often, we say that there's a tale of two Westchester. Many think of our county as being very affluent, and it is in certain pockets. We also have many students who are in need. We have had to deal with food insecurity, housing insecurity amongst our student population, and providing supplements to support them so that they can focus on their studies. Our student population reflects the community. We don't recruit students based on any kind of items that would be considered quota-based items. We just want to support the students who are here.

Brian Lehrer: I guess they would argue if funding to community colleges or other colleges was based more on the economic needs of an individual with no consideration of their race, that that would be both more constitutional and more right. How do you respond to that?

Dr. Belinda Miles: That's a great question. I can't really speak to their motivations, but I can speak from our experience of the students that we see every day at SUNY Westchester. The door is open as an access institution. We don't deny entry, nor are we particularly selective in that regard, but we want to support the students that do come. We know that they're looking for opportunities for their futures, for their families. There are childcare needs that must be met. Our food pantry is very active. These funds allow us to provide supports for students to keep them enrolled. We don't set limits on who can come.

Brian Lehrer: The government wants to set limits on how aid can be defined, and they say not by racial group.

Dr. Belinda Miles: I think that they have to work that out because we know what the needs of our students are when they come to us. We advocate for the students that are here. We've benefited from those resources as an institution, and those resources have helped us to create more programming that helps our students to stay in school, more technology supports having a stronger infrastructure. It supports our operational needs. We don't speculate on the motives of the federal government.

Brian Lehrer: I'll ask you in a minute about how much money Westchester Community College, in particular, has lost as a result of this policy change and the impact on students at your school. I also want to tell listeners that you could get into this conversation with Dr. Belinda Miles, the president of Westchester Community College. Are you a student, parent, faculty member at any school, or in some other way connected to any community college? 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692 call or text.

Are federal funding cuts affecting you? Can you help us report this story? Did your program lose funding at any school mid-semester, as happened to Westchester last fall? Are you a stop out, as they call it, not a dropout, but someone who left college before finishing your degree, a stop out, and thinking about going back, or being discouraged from going back by current cuts and the current climate? Are you an employer in the region who hires community college graduates? Maybe you're worried about the pipeline?

Are you an undocumented student or the family member of one navigating fear around immigration enforcement while trying to stay in school? Call or text us if you have any relationship to community colleges in our area. 212-433-WNYC for Dr. Miles, 212-433-9692, call or text. Tell us the story of how this came down, because the semester had already started last September, when suddenly they cut off this grant money. What programs, what staff, what students did it support, and what happened when it disappeared overnight?

Dr. Belinda Miles: We're talking about roughly a $0.5 million in support lost in the Title Five cuts, Brian. We have been focused on specific programs to help more students complete. For us, and for the students, that means more wraparound services, more targeted advising and counseling services, transportation supports, supplemental resources to close gaps in funding to support tuition.

This was very devastating for students to whom we'd made some commitments to say that these resources would be there, then to have that rug pulled out from under them was really devastating after the semester began. We were fortunate here at SUNY Westchester that the SUNY system stepped in to help us to honor the commitments we've made to students. We're certainly scrambling as we look forward to future semesters as to how we're going to close that gap and keep students enrolled.

Brian Lehrer: Just to jump in on that point for a second, this is another example, then, of states, in this case New York State, having to decide whether they're going to make up for cuts coming from the Trump administration. Then that, of course, takes money away from other things that the state would like to be spending on behalf of its people, right?

Dr. Belinda Miles: It's a huge dilemma. You're right, Brian, and it's one of those questions, what keeps the president up at night? This is one of the issues. How are we going to find those resources to keep our students whole and keep them enrolled? We're constantly examining the loss and momentum characteristics of what enables them to fulfill their goals at our institutions. The financing of their education is one that's huge.

We have the Pell Grants. New York State has the TAP grant, Tuition Assistance Program. We try to keep tuition low so that students can make the choice to come to us and certainly save money if they're planning to go on for a baccalaureate. We've had great success in improving the graduation rates because of specialized funding. Yes, we need to see how we can ensure that they stay with us.

Brian Lehrer: The state has made it up for the moment. I do also see, and you mentioned food pantries a little earlier-

Dr. Belinda Miles: I did.

Brian Lehrer: -as one of the services that you provide for your students. If I'm not mistaken, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill that passed last year cut SNAP funds for college students, in particular by introducing earnings-based accountability measures for students. Do I have this right?

Dr. Belinda Miles: There were some cuts to the SNAP programs. Our students in our community has taken on that responsibility in large measure by funding those food banks and providing resources. We have tremendous community partners who've stepped up and stepped in to close that gap. We had a very successful turkey giveaway. We gave away 300 turkeys for Thanksgiving and trimmings for families to have resources.

We have a competitive activity called the Unhunger Games, where we have departments that bring in resources, canned goods, and the like. Actually, our students have been the biggest contributors to that activity. It's made a difference for those individuals. It includes both food as well as other personal items that students might need. We are very grateful also for the support from the SUNY system for our food pantry.

Brian Lehrer: Want to hear from one of your alumni? Harvey in Valhalla, you're on WNYC with the president of Westchester Community College, Dr. Belinda Miles. Hi, Harvey.

Harvey: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. Good morning. It was back in the '90s, I was trying to go back and get my science prerequisites for medical school. I'd already received a master's from NYU in an unrelated field. Decided to go back to get my science prerequisites, which I didn't have. I tried City College, and the scheduling became too much because I was also working as a paramedic in the city. I was basically told by the chairman of the chemistry department that if I didn't like the scheduling, I could leave, so I did.

Went to Lehman College, was standing online to register for a physics course, which was canceled because there were not enough people registering. Then I found Westchester Community College tuition was cheap. All the instructors were PhD professors. The labs were fantastic. They were clean, the class sizes were small, and it was very successful for me. I'm now working as ER physician at Westchester Medical Center.

Brian Lehrer: Awesome, Harvey. Thank you very much. There's an unexpected story, Dr. Miles. Somebody who even already had a master's degree found a particular value in going back to a community college-

Dr. Belinda Miles: Certainly.

Brian Lehrer: -for an additional piece of education. Let me go to Monique in Tarrytown in Westchester. You're on WNYC. Hi, Monique.

Monique: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I myself was a child of immigrants. I was the first time in college. Also, we didn't speak English at home, but we weren't Hispanic. I know that there's a lot of Albanian, Chinese, Italian first-time students at Westchester. My question is, by doing things by identity, by melanin, by ethnicity, does that create any friction between the students, and does it impact cohesion in the university community?

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Monique. Dr. Miles.

Dr. Belinda Miles: I would say absolutely not because the Title V funding doesn't go directly to students. It is support for the institution to adapt to changes in their population. The broader emphasis would be on income levels, but it's one of those rising tides that lifts all boats that are here. The funding is institution-wide to enhance our operations, to make sure that our offices are well equipped, that we have technology, that there's tutorial services.

You heard the compliment about our labs being up to date. We are able to support all students that come to the institution. The funding is not specific. It's just that that is a particular

moniker, the Hispanic-serving institution, but it does support all students at the institution.

Brian Lehrer: Meg in Linwood works at a community college in New Jersey, I think. Meg, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Meg: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I work for four different colleges as an adjunct professor, and one of them is Passaic County Community College in Patterson, New Jersey. I had three classes lined up for the spring semester, and all three of them were canceled due to low enrollment. Two of my classes actually went to the full-time faculty member because they didn't have low enrollment, but the full-time faculty members did.

They gave her my classes, and then my other class had low enrollment, so I lost all of that work. I didn't find out until a week before the school semester started. I did wonder. I was like, "I wonder what policy was just passed that has just put me out of work?" You take an adjunct job knowing that this could happen, but it's the first time it's happened to me. It was stressful to say the least.

Brian Lehrer: We also have a text, Meg, from a listener who writes, unless this was also you, it says, "I did personally notice about a third of my students stopped attending after changes to food stamps mid-semester last term." Do you have that? I think that was not you, right?

Meg: That was not me, no.

Brian Lehrer: Do you have any evidence or suspicion that that's a reason for the low enrollment you were describing?

Meg: I thought it could be anything from ICE to grants being canceled or maybe changes in student loans. At Passaic, there is a very large Hispanic community there. I don't know for sure. These are just ideas that I've had with the administration to cover.

Brian Lehrer: Which were the classes, by the way? Give me one or two or all three of the classes that were canceled due to low enrollment. I'm curious what they were.

Meg: My art appreciation class had low enrollment. I think there were only four students signed up for it, and usually that's a really well-attended class. The other one was a drawing class, and the other one was a 2D design class.

Brian Lehrer: In the arts. Under a lot of pressure. Big thank you. 30 seconds left, Dr. Miles. What's the most popular major right now or skills track as the state and the school try to align, as you said early in the conversation, with employment opportunities out there?

Dr. Belinda Miles: Absolutely. Health care, everything from nursing to respiratory therapists to rad tech, and along with cyber. Cyber is a

huge one as well. These are areas where there are individuals needed in the region for our health care systems, which continue to expand and require qualified individuals. We work with these systems to understand what their needs are. We have robust advisory committees that inform our curriculum to make sure that we're preparing our students. We have a beautiful new city-simulated hospital lab here on campus that allows students to have some of their clinical experience that they can take while on campus. Those are the big ones.

Brian Lehrer: Dr. Belinda Miles, president of SUNY's Westchester Community College. Good luck. Thank you for joining us.

Dr. Belinda Miles: Thanks, Brian. My pleasure.

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