Biden-Harris Administration Announces Record Over $16 Billion in Support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
The Biden-Harris Administration announced a new record in federal funding and investments in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) totaling more than $16 billion from fiscal years (FY) 2021 through current available data for FY 2024. This new reported total is up from the previously announced over $7 billion, and captures significant additional actions already undertaken. The total of more than $16 billion includes over $11.4 billion between FY2021 and FY2023 through federal grants, contracting awards, and debt relief for HBCUs; over $4 billion between FY2021 and FY2023 for HBCU-enrolled students through federal financial aid and educational benefits for veterans; and, so far in FY 2024, over $900 million has been secured for Department of Education (Department) programs strengthening HBCUs as institutions.
These historic funding levels demonstrate the Administration’s ongoing commitment to HBCUs, which serve as an engine for upward economic mobility in our country. The Administration is also focused on working to ensure HBCUs have the resources to provide a high-quality postsecondary education.
For more than 180 years, HBCUs have been advancing intergenerational economic mobility for Black families and communities, developing vital academic research, and making our Nation more prosperous and equitable. Despite representing only 3% of colleges and universities, HBCUs play an outsized role in supporting the economic mobility of African Americans, producing 40% of all Black engineers, 50% of all Black teachers, 70% of all Black doctors and dentists, 80% of all Black judges, and the first woman and Black Vice President of the United States. Overall, HBCUs greatly contribute to the economic success of America, providing college access to twice as many Pell Grant-eligible (low-income) students as non-HBCU institutions. Additionally, social mobility research by the United Negro College Fund finds that HBCUs support nearly five times more students than Ivy League and other top-ranked institutions in facilitating movement from the bottom 40% in U.S. household income to the top 60%.
Read the full version of this release on the Department’s website.
Tags: diversity, federal issues, funding
