Higher education, for better or worse, has largely remained in the same place it was four years ago when the country had eagerly awaited the results of the 2016 election. There has been no reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, now six years overdue. Free community college, a popular topic of conversation in the 2016 election and again in the primaries leading up to the 2020 election, lost steam. Pell Grants have remained flat.
But the 2020 election season has brought higher education — and, in particular, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) — back to the forefront of the conversation. Recognizing how critically important these institutions and their students and alumni are to the Democratic base, President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $70 billion plan to support HBCUs. The plan focuses primarily on investing in infrastructure and research capacity for the institutions, but it also promises expansion to the federal Pell Grant program and broad student debt relief.
HBCUs in the Spotlight
Dr. Tashni-Ann Dubroy, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Howard University, says while she is excited to have one of the school’s alumni ascend to the second highest seat in the land, the community should manage its expectations for what the Biden-Harris administration will be able to do.
“I don’t think we should set unreasonable expectations for VP Harris to solve
all HBCU issues,” says Dubroy. “What I do hope for is, now that we have a champion in the White House who understands how important HBCUs are, I don’t anticipate that we will be having conversations about relevance or what … an HBCU is before they can even get to relevance.”
Still, addressing HBCU issues would help students of color and students from low-income backgrounds across higher ed. For instance, Lodriguez Murray, the United Negro College Fund’s senior vice president for public policy and government affairs, says the organization is hoping to see Pell Grant awards double in the next administration.
