Two members of the Biden cabinet called on 16 states to provide more equitable funding to the historically Black land-grant universities that were established under the so-called Second Morrill Act of 1890. “The longstanding and ongoing underinvestment…disadvantages the students, faculty, and community” surrounding the schools, wrote Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in letters to each of the governors.
The 1890 law required states to show that admission to the original group of land-grant universities, created under an 1862 law, was not based on race or to create a separate land-grant school for Black students. Vermont Sen. Justin Morrill was the sponsor of both laws. There are 19 historically black land-grant universities; most are located in the South.
Cardona and Vilsack said states were obliged under the 1890 law to provide equitable funding for both sets of colleges. But with the exception of Delaware and Ohio, states favored the 1862 schools. Over the past 30 years, the discrepancies ranged from a total of $172 million in Kentucky to more than $2 billion in North Carolina and Tennessee, said the letters, drawing on data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
“This is a situation that clearly predates all of us. However, it is a problem that we can work together to solve. In fact, it is our hope that we can collaborate to avoid burdensome and costly litigation that has occurred in several states,” wrote Cardona and Vilsack. The letters suggested measures such as stepped-up state support of the colleges.