Historically Black colleges and universities receive 178 times less funding than Ivy League schools, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The study, which was conducted by the philanthropic research groups Candid and ABFE, found that in 2019, the eight Ivy League schools received $5.5 billion from the 1,000 largest U.S. foundations, while the 99 American HBCUs only received $45 million.
“Despite the achievements of HBCUs, philanthropy funds these higher education institutions at significantly lower rates than comparable [Predominately White institutions].
CBS News reports this leaves HBCUs with less than adequate funding to support their operations, educational programs, infrastructure, and endowments,” said Susan Taylor Batten, president and CEO of ABFE.
“HBCUs have thus far been successful with limited resources, underscoring their value, power, and potential,” reads the study, highlighting the important role of HBCUs while also emphasizing the importance of providing more comprehensive funding to those institutions.
“By committing to funding HBCUs, developing long-lasting relationships with them, and increasing HBCU capacity, foundations will strengthen HBCUs to continue —and build upon— the remarkable impact they have had on Black communities and the nation.”
HBCUs are critical in the fight against systemic racism
An HBCU is “federally defined as a college or university established before 1964 with a clear mission to educate Black people,” according to the study, and HBCUs serve a crucial role in addressing systemic racism in America.
“Black people have routinely experienced challenges accessing formal education in the United States through white institutions or white people. During the legalized enslavement of Black people, laws and societal prohibitions forbade their education,” read the study.
In 2021, 75% of the HBCU student bodies were Black, but the schools only account for 3% of the total number of colleges and universities in the U.S. according to CBS News. Even so, “HBCUs account for 80% of Black judges, 50% of Black doctors, and 50% of Black lawyers,” according to the UNCF.
Some HBCU stuff respondents in the study chalked the underfunding up to a lack of developed relationships between the schools and foundations, while others said that systemic racism played a role in the disparity.
Because the data was collected in 2019, the study does not account for the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic might have had on college and university funding across the U.S.
The study was also conducted before the killing of George Floyd in 2020 that sparked nationwide protests, and may have led to a 453% increase in foundation funding to HBCUs in that year, according to preliminary data reported by the Associated Press.
Solutions to “uplift and leverage” HBCU assets
In terms of recommendations moving forward, Candid and ABFE suggested that foundations should work to provide consistent funding for HBCUs, which the groups called “a very safe investment” through relationship-building.
Foundations should also be supporting both the infrastructure and capacity of HBCUs, which enhances the quality of student life and provide “general operating support to empower HBCUs to set their own agendas.” Foundations should also work to both “uplift and leverage” HBCU assets.
“This report serves as a clarion call to our sector to right the systemic philanthropic funding disparity facing HBCUs and to adequately invest in the future of these institutions,” said Batten.
This article was obtained via CBS News.
Hailing from Charlotte North Carolina, born litterateur Ezekiel J. Walker earned a B.A. in Psychology at Winston Salem State University. Walker later published his first creative nonfiction book and has… More by Ezekiel J. Walker
