State-run, land-grant HBCUs have missed out on $13 billion over the past three decades: NPR

The Tennessee State University Aristocrat of Bands performs during the 2023 National Battle of the Bands, a showcase for HBCU marching bands, held at NRG Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Houston.

Michael Wyke/AP

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Michael Wyke/AP

The Tennessee State University Aristocrat of Bands performs during the 2023 National Battle of the Bands, a showcase for HBCU marching bands, held at NRG Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Houston.

Michael Wyke/AP

Historically, Black colleges and universities have missed out on more than $13 billion they should have gotten over the past three decades, according to letters the Biden administration sent to governors of 16 states calling on them to invest more money in HBCUs.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack sent letters to the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. .

Cardona and Vilsack cited data from the National Center for Education Statistics and found that the funding gap “could have supported infrastructure and student services and would have better positioned the university to compete for grants research”, and that HBCUs “would be much stronger”. and better positioned to serve its students, your state and the nation if this funding gap is closed.

The schools mentioned in the letters were established under the Morrill Acts. The Morrill Act of 1860 gave states 30,000 acres to establish public colleges and universities, such as Auburn University, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky and more.

But because of the discrimination and exclusion black students faced at these schools, the Second Morrill Act was passed in 1890, requiring states to either consider black students equally or create separate land-grant schools for them, some of which included:

• Alabama A&M University
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
• Florida A&M University
• Fort Valley State University (Georgia)
• Kentucky State University
• Southern University and A&M College (Louisiana)
• University of Maryland East Coast
• Alcorn State University (Mississippi)
• Lincoln University (Missouri)
• Langston University (Oklahoma)
• South Carolina State University
• Tennessee State University
• Prairie View A&M University (Texas)
• Virginia State University
• North Carolina A&T State University

In Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas and North Carolina, the gap between majority-black and majority-white land-grant institutions — including the University of Florida, Louisiana State University, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Texas A&M University and North Carolina State. University – ranged between $1 billion and $2 billion.

“This is a situation that clearly predates all of us,” Cardona and Vilsack said. “However, this is a problem we can solve together. In fact, we hope we can work together to avoid burdensome and costly litigation that has occurred in several states.”