WashPost: Why Does 1 School Get 7x More Money Than 101 HBCUs?

From The Washington Post , authored by Tony Allen, president of Delaware State University, chairs the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities & Glenda Glover, president of Tennessee State University, is the board’s vice chair.

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) make up only 3 percent of the country’s colleges and universities, but they enroll 10 percent of all African American students and produce nearly 20 percent of all African American graduates. These schools generate nearly $15 billion in direct economic impact and produce 80 percent of Black judges, 25 percent of Black science professionals, 70 percent of Black dentists and physicians, and 40 percent of Black members of Congress.

HBCUs are the primary driver of moving low-income Black people into the middle class.

Despite that remarkable return on investment, the disparity in financial support for HBCUs and for predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWIs) continues to widen. The United Negro College Fund calculated that between 2003 and 2015, the federal funding gap between HBCUs and PWIs has actually quadrupled, from about $400 to $1,600 per student.

This cannot continue. HBCUs have a proven record of doing more with less — but accepting less can no longer be an option.

There has been a recent uptick in support for HBCUs, and some state legislatures and major corporations are rethinking their HBCU investment strategies, but the magnitude of the gaps requires substantive and sustained federal action.

Consider these disparities: Of $42 billion in federal research and development funds awarded in fiscal 2018, only $400 million — less than 1 percent — went to HBCUs, according to research done by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), and that figure declined by 13 percent the following year.

Read More …