HBCUs across the country are preparing for a future without funding from the government due to the Trump administration’s budget cuts and the potential removal of the Department of Education. Most HBCUs rely on government funding to keep their institutions running afloat.
Last month, the Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy lost a $16.3 million federal grant due to President Trump’s executive order cutting funds at institutions that support diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus. Due to these actions, a number of HBCUs are examining their budgets in light of the possibility of receiving little to no federal funding.
“We’re at this position where we realize that our ancestors did not rely on federal money in order to get the work done,” said Fatima Brunson, an assistant professor for education at Spelman College.
However, federal cuts may result in staff reductions, fewer students, and the elimination of some programs for the nation’s 100 or so HBCUs, some of which were underfunded by more than $12 billion over the past 30 years compared to non-HBCUs, according to a 2022 Forbes analysis. Two HBCU administrators spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on behalf of their institutions.
According to two HBCU administrators who spoke to NBC News anonymously because they were not authorized to speak on behalf of their universities, federal cuts may result in staff cuts, fewer students, and the elimination of certain programs at the approximately 100 HBCUs in the United States, some of which were underfunded by more than $12 billion over the last 30 years compared with non-HBCUs, according to a 2022 Forbes analysis.
“Students and others at these institutions are getting a steady and really unmistakable message that they are the enemies of the Trump administration at all levels,” the HBCU leader said. “If there is a hiccup there, then we are going to get a stomach ulcer.”
According to the authors of a 2019 report by the United Negro College Fund, Black colleges are “susceptible to economic downturns, state divestments from higher education, or policy changes” because they rely on federal and state funding for 54% of their total revenue, compared to only a third for other colleges and universities.
HBCUs aren’t the only institutions in hot water with President Trump. According to two reliable sources, the Internal Revenue Service is planning to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status. This would be a drastic measure of retaliation as the Trump administration tries to increase pressure on the university that has refused to alter its hiring and other policies.
