WASHINGTON, DC (September 18, 2023) – Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) applauds U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack for their decision to send letters to 16 governors highlighting the greater than $12 billion disparity in funding between the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Land-Grant institutions and their non-HBCU Land-Grant peers in those same states.
Under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, states that chose to open a second Land-Grant university to serve Black students in lieu of integrating their existing Land-GGrant university were required to provide a “just and equitable” distribution of the federal funding given to the states to support the respective Land-Grant institutions. The states have also had a corresponding obligation to match federal funding provided to Land-Grant institutions under other applicable federal law. Since the inception of the 1890 Land-Grant institutions, the states have been consistently out of compliance with their distribution of funding and matching requirements, even though for the purposes of the letter in question, only recent statistical data (i.e., post-1986) was considered.
“TMCF is proud to have worked closely with the Biden Administration over the past two years to encourage them to take this important step to bring attention to both the historic and contemporary funding discrepancies for our Land-Grant HBCUs,” said TMCF President and CEO Dr. Harry L. Williams. “Investing in 1890 HBCUs in an equitable fashion will pay dividends not only for the students and institutions themselves, but also for the farmers served by their extension services and the economic development of the regions in which these institutions are located. We call on the state legislatures and governors to take immediate action to rectify these funding gaps and invest equally in HBCUs as mandated by federal law.”
The 16 governors receiving the letter are:
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Alabama – Gov. Kay Ivey
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Arkansas – Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
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Florida – Gov. Ron DeSantis
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Georgia – Gov. Brian Kemp
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Kentucky – Gov. Andy Beshear
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Louisiana – Gov. John Bel Edwards
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Maryland – Gov. Wes Moore
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Mississippi – Gov. Tate Reeves
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Missouri – Gov. Michael Parson
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North Carolina – Gov. Roy Cooper
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Oklahoma – Gov. J. Kevin Stitt
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South Carolina – Gov. Henry McMaster
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Tennessee – Gov. Bill Lee
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Texas – Gov. Greg Abbott
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Virginia – Gov. Glenn Youngkin
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West Virginia – Gov. James C. Justice, II
There are HBCU land-grant institutions in 18 states; however, Delaware and Ohio have equitably funded their respective universities according to Department of Education data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Survey (IPEDS) that surveyed state appropriations to the 1890 and 1862 Land-Grant institutions from 1987 to 2020.
Copies of each of the letters can be found here.
ABOUT THE THURGOOD MARSHALL COLLEGE FUND
Established in 1987, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. TMCF member-schools include the publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions, enrolling nearly 80% of all students attending black colleges and universities. Through scholarships, capacity building and research initiatives, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, TMCF is a vital resource in the K-12 and higher education space. The organization is also the source of top employers seeking top talent for competitive internships and good jobs.
TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. For more information about TMCF, visit: www.tmcf.org.
