HBCUs are underfunded. A legal effort starting in Missouri seeks to fix it

A legal challenge launched in Missouri aims to rectify the centuries-long underfunding of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, alleges that decades of insufficient financial resources have compromised the quality of education and diminished the value of degrees at Lincoln University, the state's flagship institution in Jefferson City. Over a dozen other states are targeted by a newly established organization, the 1890 Project.

Grads and students of Lincoln University claim that the lack of financial support has significantly impacted their educational experiences and the worth of their credentials. Jeanneth Johnson, a 54-year-old plaintiff from Sterling Heights, Michigan, expressed frustration, stating that the legal system often prioritizes individuals based on their skin color.

The University of Missouri system and the governor's office declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. In 2023, the administration of former President Joe Biden discovered that HBCUs in 16 states had missed out on $12.6 billion in funding over the previous three decades. This revelation followed a call from members of Congress for the governors in these states to increase their spending on education.

The issue revolves around the funding of land-grant universities, which were established in 1862 under the Morrill Act. This legislation allocated public lands to states to finance colleges specializing in practical subjects like agriculture and engineering, marking a shift from traditional colleges that primarily focused on classical subjects for the elite, such as Latin, Greek, philosophy, and theology.

Senator Justin Smith Morrill, a Vermont native and abolitionist, believed that higher education should be accessible to all social classes.

After the Civil War, Morrill advocated for amendments to the act, leading to the 1890 Act, which mandated states to either integrate their land grants to accommodate students of all races or establish separate land-grant institutions for Black students. Missouri, a border state that permitted slavery but fought alongside the Union during the Civil War, refused to admit Black students to its flagship University of Missouri campus in Columbia.

Instead, it turned to Lincoln Institute, founded by a Black Union Army unit at the end of the war, to meet the new requirements.

Seventeen other land-grant schools for Black students were subsequently established in the wake of the 1890 Act, including Tuskegee University, the sole private 1890 land grant. Federal law mandates equitable distribution of state funding for all of a state's land-grant universities, regardless of whether they are HBCUs or not. However, a 2023 analysis by the Biden administration found that only Delaware and Ohio funded both traditional and HBCU land-grants equitably.

Lincoln University, alone, was underfunded by $361 million from 1987 to 2020, according to the lawsuit.

Today, Lincoln's enrollment has dwindled to approximately 2,200 students, down from around 3,400 in 2011 and a mere fraction of the approximately 32,000 enrolled at the University of Missouri's Columbia campus, which experienced racial injustice protests in 2015, leading to the resignation of two top administrators. Don Calloway, a former Missouri state lawmaker and leader of the 1890 Project, emphasizes that parity in funding is necessary, as the federal government appropriately funded Lincoln, but the state intentionally chose not to match federal appropriations.

Calloway is also engaging with state's attorneys general in several other states, including Virginia, Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, regarding underfunded HBCUs.

While numerous lawsuits have been filed over the years in various states to address underfunding of HBCUs, most of these cases primarily focused on disparities between all HBCUs and non-HBCUs at the state level. Calloway's legal strategy, however, targets the specific 1890 land-grant schools. He anticipates negotiating or litigating in multiple jurisdictions over the coming year, with Missouri being the inaugural target.