Imagine a high-stakes game worth $1.4 billion a year with thousands
of players vying for the money. That’s the picture historically Black
colleges and universities (HBCUs) face each year as they try to access
funds from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
The Pentagon may offer a financial bonanza to colleges and
universities, but HBCUs need both subject expertise and an aggressive
outreach effort to win contracts, officials say.
“It’s not easy to win funds, but it is possible,” said Shaik
Jeelani, Tuskegee University’s vice president for research and
sponsored programs. Tuskegee has won several DOD contracts, including a
joint project with two other HBCUs and two traditionally White
institutions (TWIs) to develop lightweight shields for army tanks.
Despite Pentagon efforts to target Black colleges, “The money is
just not sitting there for you to grab,” he says. “It’s a very
competitive process.”
The Pentagon has an annual goal to award 5 percent of contract and
subcontract dollars to minority and disadvantaged businesses, HBCUs and
minority institutions. But official’s are quick to point out the 5
percent is “a goal, not a specific set-aside,” said a spokesman for The
College Fund/UNCF, which works with Black colleges to gain defense
dollars.
HBCUs also compete for funds with other institutions, including
other colleges or universities where a single minority group or
combination of groups represents more than 50 percent of total
enrollment.
The University of Texas-El Paso and Illinois Institute of Technology
are among non-HBCUs that have qualified for minority institution (MI)
status, Jeelani said. The Illinois school alone has a larger graduate
division than our undergraduate division, he adds.
