General
Alabama is home to more historically Black colleges and universities than any other state in the nation.
Now, as President Donald Trump threatens university funding and diversity initiatives, the state’s 14 HBCUs are in a state of uncertainty as they scramble to secure their futures.
“Ensuring that qualified individuals are provided the same opportunities as others is wrong how?” said Tommy Graham, an alum of Miles College near Birmingham.
Trump has sent mixed messages to HBCUs, who focus on educating Black Americans but who also support a wide array of research, scholarship and jobs.
Recent executive orders banning diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and pausing many avenues of federal funding have left HBCU administrators in a difficult position.
Some Bishop State Community College students were shaken up by an executive order pausing federal funding in January, according to Carl Cunningham, dean of students. They were concerned about the status of their financial aid packages.
“We’ve assured our students that we are there to support them in their endeavors,” Cunningham said. Administrators will support the school’s 4,100 students by “any means necessary.”
HBCUs contribute billions to local economies and produce influential leaders. And they rely heavily on federal funding, both for research and teaching and for student support. An estimated 70% of students at HBCUs receive Pell grants and are considered financially high-need, according to the United Negro College Fund.
“Federal funding is a critical aspect for Americans, especially in regards to education,” Graham said. “I survived off the Pell Grant.”
She has followed fellow Miles students on social media since graduating last year. She and others are watching federal changes and wondering how they will impact colleges with a mission to support Black Americans. She said the term “DEI” has become misused by opponents.
While federal courts have temporarily halted parts of the White House’s executive orders, uncertainty remains. And other actions are impacting how Black Americans say their historic accomplishments are remembered.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture temporarily canceled and then reinstated a $19 million scholarship program for HBCUs. The cancellation jeopardized the financial status of dozens of Alabama students.
Tuskegee, a historically Black city and home to Tuskegee University, almost had its own history erased when the Tuskegee Airmen was removed from the U.S. Air Force’s training materials. The information was later added back.
HBCUs including Alabama State are still receiving grants from the federal government, despite threats of funding cuts at other universities. ASU recently received $800,000 from the Department of Energy for to do research in Tennessee. This three-year grant is moving forward and will support eight students, according to the university.
“I always tell people, HBCUs get more bipartisan support than most entities,” said Walter Kimbrough, Talladega College’s interim president. He’s had “great conversations” with Sens. Britt and Turbeville and Rep. Mike Rogers. He said he expects continued support from Congress.
Kimbrough and Cunningham said they expect continued support for HBCUs from the current Trump administration.
But Kimbrough said that Talladega College is taking a proactive approach to funding opportunities after financial setbacks last year. They’re working with partners like the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund on funding strategies.
Cunningham said it’s important to let politicians know of the importance of HBCUs and “the work that we have done for over 100 plus years within the United States.” He said despite persistent challenges getting adequate funding, these schools produce top-tier talent.
The expected lifetime earnings of 2021 Alabama HBCU graduates is more than $15 billion, according to the United Negro College Fund’s HBCU Impact Report. Local and regional economies gained $1.4 billion from HBCUs in 2021. More than 13,000 jobs were created on and off campus.
Among the Black American population in the country, 40% of Congress, 50% of lawyers and 80% of judges graduated from an HBCU, according to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Author and professor Deondra Rose believes that bringing up a lack of funding to politicians is one way to keep HBCUs from being ignored. She said there’s a “tight connection between the work at HBCUs and the democracy that we’ve come to enjoy.”
“The work that HBCUs have done historically is to all of our benefit,” Rose said in March. “Giving HBCUs their due celebration and acknowledgement is a really important part of helping people to recognize that connection.”
HBCUs have been underfunded for more than a century, according to Alabama A&M alum and journalist Adam Harris.
“Black people have had to fight to get into institutions with white students so that they might be afforded the same resources as white students,” Harris said in his book on the history of HBCUs, “The State Must Provide: Why America’s Colleges Have Always Been Unequal—and How to Set Them Right.”
“When they tried to enroll, the government fought back as hard as it could in courtrooms and on campuses to prevent them from doing so,” Harris said. “The historically Black colleges they attended in the meantime were never adequately funded.”
A 2023 federal per-student funding analysis showed Alabama land-grant HBCUs were underfunded compared to other land-grant schools by more than $500 million, according to Inside Higher Ed.
During the Biden administration, federal officials asked states to improve funding to local HBCUs, but that impetus has not been taken up by the new Trump administration. In January, the news release noting the disparity and a notification to Gov. Kay Ivey was removed from the Department of Education’s website.
Harris told AL.com he expects further “resource segregation” or a continued downward trend in financial allocation for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions compared to predominantly white institutions.
Presidents Joe Biden and Trump expressed support for HBCUs in their previous terms. In Trump’s first term, his administration supported $355 million in funding and forgave hundreds of millions of dollars in loan debt. Under Biden’s administration, there were $1.3 billion in total federal investments, according to a White House fact sheet.
On April 23, Trump announced a new White House Initiative on HBCUs.
The initiative will “prioritize private-sector partnerships, institutional development, and workforce preparation in high-growth industries like technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and finance.”
The goal is to foster research, improve affordability and retention and “building pipelines for students to attend HBCUs.”
The initiative includes annual meeting and a board of advisors within the Department of Education “from philanthropy, education, business, finance, entrepreneurship, innovation, private foundations and current HBCU presidents.”
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