This week, President Obama released his budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The proposal for the Department of Education has a few new items that are relevant to Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs).
Direct support to HBCUs
For FY 2016, the omnibus spending bill provided a $22 million increase for the Title III, Strengthening HBCUs, program administered by the U.S. Department of Education, providing the largest funding boost for the program in six years. President Obama’s FY 2017 budget seeks to maintain and strengthen these opportunities for HBCUs to build their capacity. The FY 2017 budget proposes $85 million in mandatory funding to HBCUs, an increase of $5 million from FY 2016, plus an additional $244.7 million in discretionary funds for Title III.
In addition, the FY 2017 budget proposes $30 million for a new program, HBCU/MSI Innovation for Completion Fund. This competitive grant opportunity is designed to support innovative and evidence-based, student-centered strategies to increase the number of low-income students completing degree programs.
America’s College Promise (ACP)
On January 9, 2015 President Obama released a plan to make two years of community college free for responsible students. Many advocates for HBCUs believed that HBCUs should be included because of their record of educating low-income and underrepresented students. Today, in his budget proposal to Congress, President Obama is requesting $60.8 billion in mandatory funding over the next decade for ACP ($1.3 billion over the next year) to not only create a new partnership with States to make two years of community college free but also to provide grants to four-year HBCUs and MSIs to give free or significantly reduced tuition to new students for their first two years.
Pell Grants
