Malcolm X once famously stated that “education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”
On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, President Joe Biden announced he’s helping to pay for those passports.
The White House announced a reported record amount of federal funding, $2.7 billion, that are earmarked for about 100 HBCUs across the country, from Florida to California and every such institution in between.
According to the White House website, “these funds were provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund [HEERF] over the past year.”
The funding, Biden adds, “is a key part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to shared prosperity and equity for all Americans,” the press release also states.
Interestingly enough, this White House reports this stunning and welcomed appropriation comes on the heels of a damning report by Forbes magazine on March 7, 2022, that stated HBCUs have been cheated out of deserved funding to the tune of more than $12.8 billion combined.
Tennessee State University, as an example, is one of 18 HBCUs that received $1.9 billion less than the mainstream institution, the University of Tennessee, over the course of the past three decades.
This is a partial list of the states and the funding being funneled to the HBCUs in their states and commonwealths.
- Alabama: $334 million
- District of Columbia: $88 million
- Florida: $156 million
- Georgia: $260 million
- Mississippi: $237 million
- Pennsylvania: $25 million
Moreover, the HBCUs also were allocated funds through the Coronavirus relief bill. “These funds are already being used by colleges and universities across the country to serve students and ensure learning continues during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the White House website states.
