Many HBCUs need government funding but some are preparing for a future without it

Colleges across the country are facing battles with the federal government over funding, but similar cuts and the potential elimination of the Education Department may be existential for historically Black colleges and universities, according to at least six college administrators and leaders who spoke with NBC News.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University’s (FAMU) college of pharmacy lost a $16.3 million federal grant in late March, as the Trump administration has threatened cuts at American colleges over diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. The moves are causing several Black colleges to consider what their budgets may look like with less or no federal funding.

“We’re at this position where we realize that our ancestors did not rely on federal money in order to get the work done,” said Fatima Brunson, an assistant professor for education at Spelman College, a private women’s HBCU in Atlanta with about 2,600 students.

Still, for the 100 or so HBCUs in the country — some of which were underfunded by more than $12 billion over the last 30 years compared with non-HBCUs, according to a 2022 Forbes analysis — federal cuts may translate to staff cuts, fewer students and the elimination of certain programs, according to two HBCU administrators who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on behalf of their universities.

One of the HBCU leaders described a shared “culture of concern” across Black colleges.

“Students and others at these institutions are getting a steady and really unmistakable message that they are the enemies of the Trump administration at all levels,” the HBCU leader said. “If there is a hiccup there, then we are going to get a stomach ulcer.”

Fifty-four percent of Black colleges’ total revenue depends on federal and state funds, compared with just one-third for other colleges and universities, making them “susceptible to economic downturns, state divestments from higher education, or policy changes,” the authors of a 2019 report by the United Negro College Fund wrote.

The dilemma has fueled angst at these institutions — where, on average, 3 in 4 students also receive need-based federal aid — about who will have access to financial resources and benefits and who won’t. Seventy-three percent of HBCU students receive Pell Grants, the low-income federal student aid program, which were traditionally issued by the Education Department, compared with 36% of non-HBCU students, according to the United Negro College Fund.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Madi Biedermann, the Education Department’s deputy assistant secretary for communications, said the department will not be shutting down immediately, and that federally mandated programs have not been moved out of the Education Department as of now.

“As President Trump and Secretary McMahon have made clear, sunsetting the Department of Education will be done in partnership with Congress and national and state leaders to ensure all statutorily required programs are managed responsibly and where they best serve students and families,” Biedermann said in a statement to NBC News on Wednesday.

Valerie Kinloch, who became president of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, less than two years ago, expected challenges in her position. She did not anticipate having to weather the eventual dismantling of the Education Department or preparing to reimagine university life without federal funds.

“And yet,” she said, “we are.”

Kinloch’s predicament mirrors what many Black colleges and universities are experiencing as they brace for potential staffing cuts and reduced student enrollment as the Education Department heads toward being shuttered by the Trump administration.

To make up for a potential shortfall, her university launched a $10 million fundraising initiative to match the amount of federal aid it receives.

Kinloch noted that while some financial responsibilities for colleges also fall to states, she is concerned about the future of federal programs like Upward Bound, which helps first-generation college students and is backed by the Education Department.

Grant funding for critical health and science research, including several ongoing projects that address housing and health care inequalities “that can transform lives,” she said, may also be in danger due to cuts.

Black colleges contribute roughly $15 billion to their local economies in addition to tens of thousands of jobs, according to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

For example, FAMU’s lost $16.3 million federal grant supported new faculty hires and funded research into artificial intelligence and cancer biology, including colorectal cancer disparities in Black Americans. The school is now appealing the decision to the National Institutes of Health, an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services.

No further cuts have come down yet, but Charles Weatherford, vice president for research at FAMU, said that “the loss of funding from the Department of Education could potentially impact funds that have been used to support graduate students and academic departmental innovation.  Less funding opportunities would impact the types of financial support available to students to further their higher education aspirations.”

With cuts, new federal restrictions and confusion looming over colleges, some HBCU leaders say their colleges are exploring what life without government funding would look like — while acknowledging that not every campus has that privilege.

More than 300,000 students attend about 100 accredited HBCUs across 19 states, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

North Carolina A&T, the biggest HBCU, has the largest endowment of all Black public colleges, with $202 million in its coffers. Howard University, a private school in Washington, D.C., recently became the first Black college to have a $1 billion endowment.

“As an institution and HBCU, Spelman College has positioned themselves to feel pretty confident that we’re OK,” said Spelman’s Brunson. “But it’s not the same” for each HBCU.

Eighteen Black colleges, including Howard, were among the 30 most reliant on federal funds for their operating revenues, according to 2023 federal education data.

Hassiem Kambui, an education professor at a public HBCU and author of “Africentric Education: Public Schools Versus Charter Schools,” said he sees this time of evolution for Black colleges as a moment to reinvest in self-preservation.

“This is an opportunity to look at ourselves as educators and evaluate how we are moving on education, focusing on change and the lessons we can learn associated with how American students are served given those allocated funds,” Kambui said.

President Donald Trump has threatened to pull federal funding from colleges that don’t rid their curriculums and offices of DEI-related materials and practices, even investigating 45 universities that have partnered with The PhD Project, which aims to diversify faculties at business schools. While no HBCUs are among those listed, HBCU leaders anticipate that it’s only a matter of time.

By banning DEI practices in the federal government and putting pressure on private companies to do the same, Trump has prophesied, “Our country will be woke no longer.” This comes as HBCUs are experiencing record enrollment numbers following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to strike down affirmative action programs and race-based admissions at predominantly white institutions.

In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture briefly suspended its 1890 scholars program, an initiative at 19 HBCUs that covers the full tuition of selected agricultural studies students. The program was restored four days later, and the federal government did not explain why it had been initially suspended.

Many HBCU leaders see consistent roadblocks for Black schools as evidence of a coordinated strategy at the highest levels of the country to undermine their existence.

Brunson, said she sees this moment as an opportunity to reset.

“Education is under attack and it’s just something that we’re kind of in the trenches with,” she said. “If anything, it’s making us go back to the deeper philosophical reason for why we are here in the first place.”