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Maryland Underfunds Its Publicly Funded HBCUs

Some of Maryland’s Black lawmakers were insulted by the amount of funding Gov. Larry Hogan proposed on Wednesday to satisfy a lawsuit over the state’s inequitable funding of four public Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Publicly funded HBCUs, like the ones in Maryland, are struggling to survive financially. For decades, state governments have underfunded them compared to predominantly White state institutions. Unlike flagship state universities, the Black universities charge much lower tuition, enroll fewer students and receive smaller private donations. At the same time, there’s a widespread legacy of discrimination and neglect from state governments. Eighteen HBCUs in several states had not received nearly $57 million of state funding, according to a 2013 report from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. Other lawmakers were less generous than Glenn in their response to Hogan’s offer. “That’s like throwing peanuts at a very gigantic problem,” Del. Nick Mosby said after breaking down the numbers. The four HBCUs would receive about $2.5 million per year over a decade. Hogan’s offer is also getting a cold response outside the Legislature. David Burton, the lead plaintiff in the case, described the $100 million as a “slap in the face.”
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