About 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) shared more than $2.7 billion in funding from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, the White House recently announced. Included in that list were two Houston-area universities — Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University. TSU received $90,104,029 in funding and Prairie View received $84,101,911.
The White House said the funding, which is among the largest ever put toward America’s HBCUs, is a key part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to shared prosperity and equity for all Americans.
Vice President Kamala Harris is a graduate of Howard University, an HBCU.
“HBCUs create pathways to opportunity for Black students and foster academic excellence throughout our nation,” said the White House.
The funds were provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) over the past year. The American Rescue Plan requires half of thed funds to be used to provide direct financial relief to students, though the Department of Education expects far more will ultimately be used for that purpose.
| OTHER TEXAS HBCUS THAT RECEIVED FUNDING | |
| ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE | $70,663,484 |
| TEXAS COLLEGE | $12,378,810 |
| HUSTON-TILLOTSON UNIVERSITY | $11,360,349 |
| JARVIS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE | $10,982,554 |
| WILEY COLLEGE | $9,934,742 |
| PAUL QUINN COLLEGE | $8,089,525 |
| SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE | $6,085,111 |