HOUSTON – Following a demand letter calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to address the disparity in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) funding, Texas State Democratic leaders and legal advocates addressed the historical inequalities in these institutions of higher learning on Wednesday.
While HBCUs represent 3% of postsecondary institutions, they enroll about 10% of all Black college students, according to the HBCU PARTNERS Act.
These colleges and universities reportedly generate close to $15 billion in economic impact and more than 134,000 jobs annually in the local and regional economies they serve. The three public HBCUs in Texas, Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, and St. Phillip’s College, have lagged in funding compared to the state’s predominantly white institutions (PWIs).
“Prairie View A&M University, which is the 1890 land-grant institution in the state, has not been able to advance in ways that are on par with Texas A&M University College Station, the original Morrill Act of 1862 land-grant institution in Texas, in large part due to this unbalanced funding,” a news release from the Texas Legislative Black Caucus stated. “In the last 30 years alone, an additional $1,135,496,704 would have been available for the university if their state funding per student were equal to that of the state’s 1862 institutions. These funds could have supported infrastructure and student services and better positioned the university to compete for research grants.”
The demand letter was filed to “rectify the years of disparate funding and set the course for a more equitable process of higher-learning institutional funding for generations to come,” according to TLBC. “We call on Governor Abbott and his administration to do what’s right and correct this historical wrong.”
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