*President Joe Biden is working to increase funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Speaking at the 2024 National HBCU Week Conference on Monday, Biden announced his administration is working to invest more than $1 billion in HBCUs. This will bring its total contributions to the schools to more than $17 billion.
While HBCUs produce about 20% of Black graduates in the United States, the institutions are also historically underfunded.
“Black excellence is American excellence,” President Biden quipped. “All of our students, all of our colleges and universities should be able to succeed.”
He called his upcoming $1 billion investment in HBCUs “the most ever any administration has ever, ever, ever committed.”
The Trump administration reauthorized $225 million in mandatory funding to minority-serving institutions. It included $85 million in recurring funds for HBCUs, Nexstar reported.
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Vice President Kamala Harris, herself an HBCU graduate, has pledged to prioritize the schools if she wins in November. Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has also made similar vows.
Dr. Tony Allen, the president of Delaware State University, said HBCUs have consistently outperformed other institutions by doing more with less. He added that support for HBCUs should be at least bipartisan because of their more significant impact.
“We are an economic engine wherever you find an HBCU,” Allen explained.
“Our students are trying to change their lives for their families, for their communities,” he said while also pointing out that HBCUs collectively provide more than $16 billion every year to their communities.
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