'Sold a dream': HBCUs struggle for funding, Howard University students protest

[ASTalumna06]

https://autos.yahoo.com/autos/sold-d...100028307.html

Political science major Erica England returned to Howard University in 2018 after an eight-year hiatus, hoping to enjoy the university’s status as an elite historically Black school.

She soon realized she could barely keep up with tuition despite working full-time. Meanwhile, her life and studies were disrupted by what she and others describe as substandard housing – including roaches and rats, leaky pipes, cold showers and spotty Wi-Fi.

Now England, of Raleigh, North Carolina, is among more than 100 students conducting a sit-in at Howard’s student center in Washington, D.C., a demonstration that on Friday headed into its 11th day with students protesting living conditions and the elimination of representative seats for students, faculty and alumni from the school’s Board of Trustees.
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The protest comes at a time when historically Black colleges and universities are reeling from news that federal aid to historically black colleges and universities (HCBUs) will likely fall far short of expectations in President Joe Biden’s budget package. The president’s most recent proposal allocates $1.45 billion for the historically underfunded institutions, a number that could plummet further as Congressional negotiations over the Build Back Better plan proceed.

About one in eight Black students earn their bachelor’s degrees at one of the country's 107 HCBUs, whose large numbers of students from low-income households offer less tuition revenue and financial resources compared to other schools. But 40 percent of Black member of Congress attended HCBUs, as did Vice President Kamala Harris, a Howard University graduate; such schools produce 42 percent of Black engineers and 80 percent of Black judges.