Washington, D.C. — Despite being powerhouses of economic mobility and innovative research, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) continue to receive a disproportionately low share of federal research and development funding.
A new report published by the Center for American Progress and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund highlights disparities in federal research and development funding for HBCUs since 2010. Alarmingly, the authors found that in recent years, the share of federal R&D funding awarded to HBCUs has been less than 1 percent on average, in spite of the fact that HBCUs represent 3 percent of all four-year institutions.
Key data from the analysis include:
- HBCUs received 0.91 percent of federal R&D expenditures in fiscal year 2023, despite constituting 3.2 percent of all four-year degree-granting colleges and universities.
- Since 2018, the share of federal R&D funding received by HBCUs has averaged 0.87 percent.
- The two agencies that account for the most federal R&D funding annually—the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense—awarded disproportionately low shares of federal R&D funding to HBCUs, at 0.54 percent and 0.40 percent, respectively, in fiscal year 2023.
- Of the 43 agencies that distributed R&D funding to institutions of higher education in 2023, 17 did not allocate any funding to HBCUs—equal to 40 percent.
“Inequities in R&D funding is a long-recognized issue that Democratic and Republican policymakers alike have attempted to address,” said Sara Partridge, associate director of Higher Education Policy at CAP and co-author of the report. “In order to support these key drivers of scientific achievement and upward mobility, we need federal policymakers to commit to measurable benchmarks for the share of funds awarded to these institutions.”
Read the report: “Bolstering the Role of HBCUs in Federal Research and Development” by Sara Partridge, Victor Santos, and David K. Sheppard
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].