September 21st 2023.
The Biden administration just released some shocking news about HBCUs. According to NBC News, land-grant schools in 16 states have missed out on nearly $13 billion of funding in the span of the last 30 years. In response, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack sent letters to the governors of those states, urging them to increase the financial aid for the HBCUs.
The data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics painted a bleak picture. It revealed that the lack of funding in 16 states holding black land grants was unacceptable. Established in the 19th century, land-grant universities were created to promote research and agricultural instruction. The federal law requires that the states must equally distribute their state funds to all land-grant universities. Unfortunately, the HBCUs have been receiving the lesser end of the deal.
Some of the affected schools include Alabama A&M University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Kentucky State University, Lincoln University in Missouri, Langston University in Oklahoma, Florida A&M, and North Carolina A&T. NPR reported that in certain states, the difference between the HBCUs and PWIs (predominantly white institutions) was a staggering amount, ranging from $1 billion to $2 billion.
Cardona and Vilsack are of the view that this issue can be resolved if all parties are willing to work together. “This is a situation that clearly predates all of us,” they said. “However, it is a problem that we can work together to solve. In fact, it is our hope that we can collaborate to avoid burdensome and costly litigation that has occurred in several states.” Delaware is already taking steps to level the playing field for Black business owners and landlords with grants up to $25K. Hopefully, other states will follow suit and put an end to this inequality.
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