Over $4M in funding for Maryland HBCUs at risk in US Senate

BALTIMORE – More than $4 million in federal funding for historically black colleges and universities in Maryland may disappear if Congress doesn’t reauthorize mandated spending for those institutions.

News outlets report more than $250 million in annual mandated funding for HBCUs expired after Sept. 30 because the Senate didn’t approve it.

The funding passed unanimously in the U.S. House but Senate Republicans say they want to include long-term funding for HBCUs as part of the Higher Education Act, which is designed to make college more affordable.

Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland says support for minority-serving institutions shouldn’t hang in the balance while leaders try to reform the act, which has failed to pass for several years.

Thurgood Marshall College Fund President Harry Williams says some HBCUs nationwide are already projecting cuts.