Ten historically Black colleges and universities will share $97.1 million from the Defense Department’s HBCU and Minority-Serving Institutions Research and Education Program. Each is working toward R1 status, the highest research classification a U.S. university can hold. Among HBCUs, only Howard University has it.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia announced the awards. “For too long, HBCUs have gone unrecognized for their contributions to our nation’s leading STEM industry,” he said. The money goes to STEM programs, and he said it “honors that legacy” of “academic excellence and innovation.”
Four schools received the full $10 million: Florida A&M University, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University and Texas Southern University. The rest, as AfroTech listed them:
Clark Atlanta University, $9.78 million. Delaware State University, $10 million. University of the District of Columbia, $9.98 million. Jackson State University, $7.57 million. Fayetteville State University, $9.90 million. Prairie View A&M University, $9.86 million.
Outlets differ by a hundredth or two on a few amounts. The total, $97.1 million, is the same in every account.
The Black stake is plain. Black students at these ten schools are the ones who would work in any new labs, and no HBCU other than Howard sits in the top research tier today.
Warnock’s office says he has secured more than $17 billion in federal HBCU investment since 2022, including nearly $275 million for Georgia institutions. That figure comes from his side, not from an independent count.
Ten million dollars is a down payment on a research university, not the whole of one. These schools have been asked to do more with less for generations, and one award does not undo that. If Washington wants a second R1 among HBCUs, it has to pay for it again next year, and the year after.
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