After months of negotiation, Congress gave final approval Tuesday for a bill promising to restore more than $250 million a year to the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, along with other institutions that teach large shares of minority students.
Each year as families beam with pride at seeing a son, daughter or another relative graduate from college, that achievement is nearly always the result of a family’s commitment to higher education. And when these institutions are among the more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), that pride is magnified by the history of how our forefathers overcame what once seemed to be insurmountable challenges.
The Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus –Congressional Black (CBC) Caucus Chair Karen Bass (CA-37), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Judy Chu (CA-27) – released their Tri-Caucus Higher Education Priorities for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Higher education has always offered opportunities to learn and earn a better quality of life. But in the 21stCentury, higher education has also become synonymous with ever deepening debt. More than 44 million consumers of varying ages and occupations struggle with $1.5 trillion in student debt.
The congressman’s comments and the advancement of the Rebuild America’s School Act comes as a new report revealed that White school districts receive $23 billion more in funding than non-white districts despite serving the same number of students.
U.S. Senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) today announced that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will receive a 14-percent increase in federal funding in the Senate’s omnibus spending bill, from $244.7 million in FY17 to $279.6 million in FY18. The funding increase follows a request made by Senators Jones and Harris last month in a letter to the leadership of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Their letter was supported by 12 of their Senate colleagues and is copied below.
With 65 percent of jobs soon requiring more than a high school diploma, the need is greater than ever, especially for African Americans and other communities of color.
UNCF recently issued a statement on President Trump’s signing statement of the FY 2017 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which included a reference that the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Capital Financing Program may be reviewed for its compliance with the Constitution:
In light of President Obama’s work to stem over-incarceration, Congressmember Karen Bass (D-Calf.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, recently introduced bipartisan legislation that would bolster the Administration’s efforts to eliminate barriers to education for ex-offenders. H.R. 4004, the “Stopping Unfair Collateral Consequences from Ending Student Success Act” or the SUCCESS Act, would repeal the law that makes it all but impossible for people with a drug conviction, no matter how petty, to apply for federal financial aid for education. A section of the Higher Education Act suspends college aid for a person who is convicted of a drug