September 12, 2025
Dear UC colleagues,
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the elimination of federal funding for programs that support higher education institutions designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). We continue to monitor impacts to our university as many of our campuses have achieved these designations as part of advancing UC’s mission to expand access to students from all backgrounds.
Federal funding is front and center on the Congressional agenda — the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, but none of the 12 appropriations bills that provide funding for the federal government have been signed into law yet. With less than a month left in the federal fiscal year, Congress will need to pass a stopgap measure before the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown. This week, the House Appropriations Committee marked up its FY 2026 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bill, which would essentially keep funding for the National Institutes of Health and the maximum Pell Grant award the same, while eliminating or cutting other key education and health programs. The funding levels in the final Labor-HHS-Education bill will have direct impacts on the UC community, including for students who rely on federal financial aid as well as researchers and patients who depend on NIH funding.
You can view the status and proposed funding levels for UC’s priority programs and agencies in the appropriations tracker compiled by UC’s Office of Federal Governmental Relations. We will continue to advocate for UC, its research funding, and its students throughout the appropriations process. Help us do that by joining our Speak Up for Science campaign, where you can email your lawmakers about the importance of science funding for all of us.
To ensure our state legislators understand exactly what is at stake if UC loses federal funding, last week the State Governmental Relations team shared with legislative members a newly developed fact sheet that breaks down the amount of federal funding UC receives and how funding cuts could impact UC and communities throughout California. You can view and download that resource at the link below.
Best,
Meredith Vivian Turner
Senior Vice President
External Relations & Communications
UC Office of the President
University Response and Communications
UC Newsroom: Critical research hangs in the balance as UC faces unprecedented federal threats
UC press release: UC launches Speak Up for Science campaign as critical research faces unprecedented federal threats
UC press release: New poll shows broad support for UC among California voters
New Resources
President Milliken response to letter of support from Senator Wiener
What’s at Stake if the University of California Loses Federal Funding
Media Highlights
Los Angeles Times: California Democrats and Republicans agree on one thing: They support UC, poll shows
San Francisco Chronicle: University of California pushes back on Trump’s $1B demand
SFGate: UC system says Trump's budget cuts could wreck scientific research
The Washington Post: The world’s greatest mathematician avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.
Los Angeles Times: UC warns Trump funding cuts could impact entire 10-campus system: 'The risks are very real'
The Daily Californian: UC launches campaigns amid continuing federal attacks on research funding
San Francisco Chronicle: California colleges hit hard as Trump administration cuts HSI funding
The New York Times: Harvard Is Told Research Money Could Flow Again, for Now
For ongoing updates and resources, please visit the UC Federal Updates website.