University of St. Thomas officials told the Minnesota Senate Education Finance Committee that two federal programs that funded scholarships and stipends for teacher‑residency and grow‑your‑own pathways have been terminated by federal administrators, imperiling support for current and prospective teacher candidates.

President Robert Vischer told senators the university received a termination notice for a $6.8 million seed grant from the U.S. Department of Education; the university also reported an earlier termination of a Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) award of about $2.8 million. Administrators said federal officials cited changes in administrative priorities, including references to DEI‑related language, as the reason for the terminations; university staff said the grants were focused on teacher pipelines and scholarships rather than racial or identity‑based preferences.

"This grant is an example," Vischer said, asking legislators to consider how changes in federal grant classification can affect private institutions that run teacher‑pipeline programs. He told the committee universities and colleges deliver public‑value workforce outcomes and that private institutions should not be sidelined from those roles.

Faculty leaders described program impacts. Dr. Lynn Stansbury Brunson and Dr. Shelley Nielsen Gaddy, co‑directors of federal grant projects at St. Thomas, told the committee the rescinded seed grant had funded scholarships for "over 300" elementary and special‑education candidates across roughly 80 Minnesota communities. They said the TQP termination halted living‑wage stipends for teacher residents placed in charter schools and that roughly $700,000 of an expected $2 million second‑year draw had been disbursed before termination.

Justin Jones, a Minneapolis teacher resident and single parent enrolled in the Saint Thomas residency, told senators the rescission forces him to consider taking loans to finish his degree. "Because Saint Thomas's federal seed grant was rescinded by the current administration, I will no longer be able to complete the program without taking on debt," Jones said. He described the residency model as a 15‑month program that combines weekday coursework with a yearlong paid residency alongside a mentor teacher.

University staff said many candidates have braided funding: state residency and grow‑your‑own grants, federal awards and district funds. Shelley Nielsen Gaddy said the state and district programs remain important and that the university is working with districts to identify alternative funding sources where possible, but that federal aid allowed the university to stretch state dollars and expand the number of scholarship recipients.

The university said it is pursuing the appeal process the termination notice offered and has contacted federal elected officials. Committee members asked the university to provide the termination notice and a short summary of dollars affected and programs at risk; several senators said they would follow up with federal contacts.

No immediate personnel reductions at St. Thomas were reported; university leaders said the cancelled grants were student funding and that the university’s payroll was not directly affected by the terminations. Leaders emphasized that the larger risk is to candidates mid‑program and to districts counting on residents to enter classrooms.

Senators thanked the university for the update and said they would review the materials and consider whether state action—such as redirecting or augmenting state scholarship or residency funds—would be necessary to preserve teacher pipelines.