Despite being powerhouses of economic mobility and innovative research, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) continue to receive a disproportionately low share of federal research and development funding.
A new report published by the Center for American Progress and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) highlights disparities in federal research and development funding for HBCUs since 2010. Alarmingly, the authors found that in recent years, the share of federal R&D funding awarded to HBCUs has averaged under 1 percent, in spite of the fact that HBCUs represent 3 percent of all four-year institutions.
Key data from the analysis include:
- HBCUs received 0.91% of federal R&D expenditures in fiscal year 2023, despite constituting 3.2% of all four-year degree-granting colleges and universities.
- Since 2018, the share of federal R&D funding received by HBCUs has averaged 0.87%.
- The two agencies that account for the most federal R&D funding annually — the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense — awarded disproportionately low shares of federal R&D funding to HBCUs, at 0.54% and 0.40% respectively, in fiscal year 2023.
- Of the 43 agencies that distributed R&D funding to institutions of higher education in 2023, 17 did not allocate any funding to HBCUs—equal to 40 percent.
“For 188 years, our nation’s historically Black colleges and universities have been centers of academic excellence and innovation,” said TMCF President & CEO Dr. Harry L. Williams. “As our report demonstrates, there is a unique opportunity to expand the capacity and financial strength at HBCUs while also strengthening the overall research capacity of our nation by providing more federal research and development opportunities to these historically underutilized institutions. For too long, federal research investments have been disproportionately concentrated in a select few institutions of higher education. Creating measurable benchmarks for HBCU research investments and expanding America’s portfolio of top-tier research institutions would, undoubtedly, serve our nation’s long-term best interests.”
Read the report: “Bolstering the Role of HBCUs in Federal Research and Development” by Sara Partridge, Victor Santos and David K. Sheppard
