A new report from The Century Foundation tracks how more than a century of spending inequities — from 1890’s Morrill Act establishing federal funds for land-grant institutions all the way through to federal funding cuts to HBCUs in 2015 and numerous policies in between — have negatively impacted endowments at historically Black institutions.
Denise Smith
The report found that the average endowment at non-HBCUs was 3.5 times larger than the average endowment at HBCUs. At private institutions, the gap is more than 7 times larger.
Denise Smith is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a two-time HBCU alumna, and author of the report. She said national leaders are quick to extol the virtues of historically Black colleges and institutions, but their actions rarely line up with the rhetoric.
“HBCUs right now are having a moment,” she said. “I think it’s an opportunity now to not only give praise, but also for action to match that praise.”
