During the 118th Congress, education and access to education remain issues of primary importance for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). Our Nation requires an increasingly competitive workforce, and that workforce must be diverse. The 106 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) offer the excellence and diversity required to meet our Nation’s workforce needs. Most notably, HBCUs offer the best value for a college degree to our citizens. For instance, tuition rates at TMCF member-schools are on average nearly 30% less than at comparable non-HBCUs. HBCUs educate more students in need (i.e., Pell Grant eligible students), and disproportionately more underrepresented and underserved students majoring in science technology, engineering, the arts, agriculture, and mathematics (STEAM). These factors justify past and necessitate continued Congressional appropriations to HBCUs, which are among the best return on our Nation’s post-secondary education investments.

With that outsized impact of our institutions in mind, we call on the Congress to move forward with the following priorities:

TMCF’s top legislative priority is introducing and passing the IGNITE  HBCU Excellence Act to address infrastructure issues at HBCUs. Given that  TMCF member-schools continue to operate academic, residential, and administrative facilities that have, arguably, outlived their reasonable life cycle  (i.e., 50-plus years), we ask Congress to prioritize and set aside targeted funding directed to HBCUs to address decades of infrastructure needs on our campuses, including but not limited to, improving physical space,  laboratories, residence and academic halls, roads, boilers, libraries and green space for campuses to become energy efficient, as well as funding to address significant deferred maintenance needs for that physical infrastructure.

Since Congress has not reauthorized the Higher Education Act (HEA) since 2008, the challenges to attending and operating our member schools remain and, in some instances, have been amplified as evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, TMCF seeks increases in authorized funding amounts and actual appropriations provided to programs that impact HBCUs and PBIs (see joint HBCU Community Appropriations Chart). Reauthorization of the HEA will provide the predictability and continuity our member-schools require when implementing long-term budget priorities to ensure their campuses survive and thrive.

Pell grants are the primary vehicle to provide access to and make college affordable for nearly seven million low and middle income students, including 75% of HBCU students. TMCF calls on Congress to double the maximum Pell grant award and provide a Summer Pell grant award of $4,000.00.

Like many educational institutions, HBCUs receive significant funding from the Department of Education. The various departments and agencies across the federal enterprise are also potential partners. We propose that all FY 2023 discretionary accounts receive a minimum 10% increase in funding for FY 2024.

TMCF is proud to include in our membership all of the nineteen 1890 Land  Grant Institutions and support a farm bill proposal that would make the 1890  Scholarship program permanent, increase the numbers of 1890 Centers of  Excellence from 6 to 10, and continue to shine a light on state inequities in state funding between 1890 Land Grant and their 1862 Land Grant counterparts.

Funding levels for the Title III, Part B programs are critical to enhance and sustain the quality of HBCUs, and to address national challenges associated with global competitiveness, job creation and changing demographics. Title III Part B programs help HBCUs support undergraduate programs and activities. Under the FY 2020 budget, we are working to increase discretionary funding to $375 million (up from $282 million in FY ‘19) and preserve the $85 million in mandatory funding for Title III, Part F programs.

TMCF supports a maximum Pell Grant award of $6,800 (up from $6,195 in FY ’19). This critical, need-based grant program provides critical funding to low-income students who are persisting toward degree completion.

TMCF recommends Congress appropriate $50.5 million for the HBCU Capital Financing Program in the FY 2020 budget. The HBCU Capital Financing Program supports the construction, reconstruction, and renovation of academic facilities at institutions of higher education. Visit the Department of Education to learn more about the HBCU Capital Financing Program

TMCF urges Congress to consider an increase to $65 million in the FY ‘20 budget (up from $______ in FY19). The HBCU/MI program provides access to scientific and technical information products and services to faculty, staff and students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities, Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, and other minority serving institutions.

TMCF has advocated for the support for the 1890 Education and Facility Programs. There are four programs under this account. These funds are used to strengthen research, extension and teaching in the food and agricultural sciences by building the institutional capacities of the 1890 Institutions, including Tuskegee University.

STEM Education Programs

Investment in STEM education across the federal government is a national security issue. Please see below targeted programs that increase minority participation in STEM education and careers. TMCF has  requested that Congress fund these programs at increased levels in the FY 2022 budget.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

●      Minority University Research and Education Program

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

●      Education Partnership Program/Minority Serving Institutions

National Science Foundation (NSF)

●      Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP)

●      Centers for Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST)

●      Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP)

●      Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)