Poster #39 - Imaginary Support: The Underfunding of Historically Black Colleges & Universities

• In Event: Saturday Poster Luncheon

Abstract

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are a cornerstone in providing access to higher education opportunities for people of color. Yet there is a lack of equity in the distribution of state funding to HBCUs. Traditionally public colleges and universities receive state funding based on the number of enrolled students and the appropriations of the year before. In addition to traditional ways, performance-based funding has increasingly become connected to state appropriations to elicit institutional outcomes. Performance-based or not, each year public HBCUs continue to recieve lower state funding than public predominantly white state institutions. Because states are not given consequences for providing less, most of these HBCUs are left to function at a significant deficit than their counterparts. As a result, the disparities among HBCUs continue to stifle their ability to provide goods & services to students and create missed opportunities to extensively attract and retain strong performing faculty and administration.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how the adoption of state funding affects HBCUs. Utilizing empirical research, this paper examines the ways implementation creates disparities at HBCUs through politics, appropriations, and single awarded amounts that correlates to infrastructure and student retention. The findings confirm the inequities of appropriations and withholds of performance-based funding due to enrollment and/or graduation rates. Multiple states showed inconsistencies with maintaining performance base funding over time and for the states who used a formula, they possessed substantial autonomy over funding. Additionally, each state had an individual set of rules to decipher how much funding an institution received. Studies also showed states were more likely to provide institutions with additional funding should the universities and colleges increase their chances of receiving a larger amount of federal dollars. Overall the findings demonstrate a need for a definitive repair of state appropriations, collaboration between state officials and HBCUs administration & an expansion of empirical research to examine public HBCUs' state appropriation experience.

As researchers and adminstrators what can we learn and adapt from other schools (both HBCUs and non-HBCUs)? Ultimately what can HBCUs and the community at large cultivate in this season of research, policy and practice?

Author

• Amber Edrington, Seton Hall
  Presenting Author