The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel this month concluded that several long-standing federal grant programs targeted at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) violate the Constitution’s ban on race-based criteria. The memo — requested by the Education Department — identifies Hispanic-serving, Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian-serving, and Native American-serving nontribal grants among those the DOJ deems unlawful unless reworked with race-neutral criteria. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised the opinion and signaled the department will redirect some funding. Legal scholars and MSI leaders say the ruling threatens years of targeted capacity-building funds for institutions that enroll high shares of underrepresented students and could trigger further litigation and congressional action about how federal higher-education dollars are allocated.