Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has targeted dozens of higher education institutions, worked to dismantle the Department of Education, and taken aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Meanwhile, community colleges in Houston and elsewhere have generally sat quietly on the sidelines — not a direct target of Trump’s overhaul, but not shielded from his actions, either.
Still, the flurry of changes has created confusion among community college leaders locally and nationally about where their institutions stand. San Jacinto College External Communications Director Amanda Fenwick said the college has “encountered some challenges in interpreting how federal directives apply specifically to community colleges.”
With a combined 175,000-plus students, Houston’s largest community college systems play a massive role in preparing the region’s future workforce.
Here’s what we know about how the Trump administration’s actions could impact that task.
Focused on universities, not community colleges
Trump’s administration has largely trained its ire on four-year colleges and universities, which receive more federal funding than community colleges.
For example, when the National Institutes of Health issued changes to the way colleges are funded, four-year research universities were the center of the conversation. Community colleges generally don’t receive federal research funding.
Additionally, when the Education Department sent letters in mid-March to 60 colleges under investigation for alleged antisemitic activity and warned them they could lose federal funding, its list included only one community college.
“The community colleges don’t really necessarily share some of those political issues,” said Iris Palmer, community college director at New America, an education think tank. “But what I would say is that there could very well be sustained damage, not necessarily deliberately, but just as a byproduct of random cutting and random actions.”
Financial aid appears safe
The majority of federal dollars that community colleges see are in the form of “pass-through” financial aid. Federal financial aid such as Pell grants and student loans flow through the college and to its students.
For example, in 2024, HCC distributed $158 million in such funds from the Education Department, according to its financial report.
Any changes to the flow of this funding is where community colleges have the most potential to take a hit.
Slashing staff at the Education Department — or dissolving the department altogether — doesn’t make the funds that reach community colleges disappear. Trump said that, in the absence of the Education Department, he plans to move the portfolio to another agency, such as the Small Business Administration.
However, many students and higher education administrators are concerned about whether the funds would still flow smoothly after such a massive reshuffle.
“That’s a big question. And if it doesn’t, if there’s disruption, it will be incredibly painful for community colleges,” Palmer said.
Last year, fewer Houston-area students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, following a glitch-riddled rollout of a revamped process under the Biden administration. The FAFSA allows students to access federal grants and loans, a necessary step in affording college for many Houston students.
The debacle illustrated the risks of disrupting the financial aid process, leaving some concerned about how future rollouts will look under an even slimmer staff or a new department.
Little reliance on federal funds
The majority of funding for Texas community colleges to run the schools comes from state funding, local tax revenue, and tuition and fees paid by students. A smaller share comes from the federal government.
“Community colleges, by and large, do not rely heavily on federal funding to support what they do,” said Tom Brock, director of Columbia University’s Community College Research Center. “So for all the reasons to worry about higher ed right now, community colleges are probably not the main focus of worry.”
Take Houston Community College, for example. Federal grants and contracts totaled roughly $16 million in 2023-24, or 3 percent of the school’s $585 million in revenue. (The college counts about $100 million in Pell grants as revenue, though that money is transferred to students for financial aid.)
Community colleges also often use smaller federal grants to fund workforce development programs. For example, San Jacinto received roughly $2.2 million in Perkins grants to help fund career and technical education programs in 2024. HCC received about $1.1 million in TRIO grants funds in 2024 to support programs that fund college preparation. These grants are “potentially in play” to be impacted by Trump’s cuts, Brock said, but nothing is certain.
DEI bans not new
In mid-February, the Trump administration released guidance demanding colleges immediately cease all race-conscious policies and programming, threatening them with the loss of federal funding if they don’t comply. The guidance made it illegal to host race-specific graduation ceremonies or use race in admissions decisions and scholarships, among other actions.
Unlike most higher education institutions across the county, Houston’s community colleges weren’t sent into a panic by the move. Texas lawmakers banned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public colleges in 2023, meaning colleges already closed or reshaped their DEI departments and teams.
“At this time, we do not perceive any additional issues and will continue to offer services to all students so that they are able to complete their higher education credentials,” Fenwick, the San Jacinto administrator, said in a statement to the Landing when federal officials issued the guidance.
College leaders quiet on changes
Amid the confusion Trump’s administration is stirring, community college leaders have kept relatively hush. Like many college leaders across the country, top administrators haven’t publicly pushed back against Trump’s actions.
In a response to questions from the Landing, a spokesperson at Lone Star College, Texas’ largest community college system, said administrators are constantly monitoring the changes and do not expect “any substantial decisions will alter its operations.”
“To date, no federal changes have affected this institution,” said Nancy Molina, Lone Star’s vice chancellor of legal affairs.
Miranda Dunlap covers Houston’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus. Despite roughly half of Houston’s higher-education students attending community colleges, there hasn’t been much news covering these systems or students — until now. Her reporting holds institutions accountable, highlights barriers faced by students and helps them navigate their opportunities. Reach Miranda at miranda@houstonlanding.org or on Twitter and Instagram.
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