UNCF Supports House Education Funding Bill, Calls for Immediate Passage

Annual funding bill passes subcommittee and full committee, heads to House floor

The United States House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, with all government funding as its primary jurisdiction, passed the bill funding education and historically Black college and university (HBCU) priorities recently. The House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill passed the full committee on a partisan vote, just as it passed the subcommittee on Monday. The funding increases match many included in President Biden’s first budget, and this is significant. Usually, President’s budgets do not include increases for HBCU priorities, and that makes the effort to get Congress to accept increases during the annual appropriations process difficult. Additionally, the bill contains congressionally designated funding for HBCUs Morehouse College, Spelman College, Stillman College, Texas Southern University and Meharry Medical College.

“Congress is moving in the right direction,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF. “In my recent meeting with Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, I advocated for the Title III Strengthening HBCUs program, and the Appropriations Committee has met our request. I commend Chairwoman DeLauro for working with Rep. Barbara Lee and others to bring a strong bill that uplifts the priorities of HBCUs. I urge the House to pass this bill this month, and I challenge the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to embrace HBCU priorities and meet these funding numbers in their bill.”

“HBCUs have never been in the position of supporting the President’s budget, but we are this time!” exclaimed Lodriguez V. Murray, senior vice president for public policy and government affairs, UNCF. “To fully fund the Strengthening HBCU program, support the Pell Grant and support campus-based aid like Work Study and SEOG that our students need means this bill is all we could have hoped for. The challenge will be for HBCU alumni, students and employees to let senators know that we will not stand by idly while they attempt to water down these increases, which HBCUs have been long overdue to receive based on their strong product—our graduates.”

The U.S. Senate has not yet produced its education funding bill.

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About UNCF
UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20% of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”^® Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.