WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Select Education and 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittees today held a joint hearing on “Responding to the Needs of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the 21st Century.” Chaired jointly by subcommittee chairmen Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), respectively, the hearing was the third in a series on minority serving institutions and the unique role they play in providing a postsecondary education for our nation’s students.

     Under President Bush’s 2003 budget request, programs to strengthen HBCUs would increase by an additional $7 million; programs to strengthen Historically Black Graduate Institutions would increase by an additional $2 million.

     “The contributions made by HBCUs are undeniable,” said Hoekstra, a member of the Congressional Task Force on HBCUs. “While comprising only three percent of the nation’s two- and four-year institutions, HBCUs are responsible for producing 28 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, 15 percent of all master’s degrees, and 17 percent of all first professional degrees earned by African Americans.”

     “In many instances they do not have access to the resources or endowment income that other institutions can draw on,” Hoekstra continued. “Despite this, they tend to keep their tuitions affordable in comparison with other institutions of higher education.”

     “According the Department of Education, minority students attend college at a rate that is 10 percent below that of their peers, and complete college at a rate that is almost 20 percent below their peers. We must close this gap,” said McKeon, who has led committee efforts to reform the federal government’s role in higher education, including the “Fed. Up” initiative, which seeks to reduce regulatory burdens on colleges and universities.

     “The track record of the nation’s HBCUs is impressive, but the challenge of eliminating the educational attainment gap between African Americans and white Americans remains,” said Dr. William B. DeLauder, president of Delaware State University. “In my opinion, the number-one need is an effective financial aid system.”

     “I want to express my concern as a President of a small private college about the increasing debt burden imposed on our students,” said Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. “No matter how we package aid for our low-income students, we are able to only cover 81 percent of a student’s direct costs.”

     “Among minority serving institutions, there exist serious areas of digital divide in student Internet access, high-speed connectivity, and insufficient infrastructure,” said Dr. Frederick S. Humphries, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. “As a result, there is a lost opportunity for these individuals to secure a better education.”

     “Because of the array of options and barriers before many students, choosing a college can be a difficult decision,” said Christopher Elders, a Rhodes Scholar from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. “It is imperative that attending a historically black college or university not mean sacrificing a quality education or lack of resources.”

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