In the two weeks since the White House reversed course on the 1890 National Scholars Program and lifted its suspension, Kendall Strickland still feels a sense of unease about the programâs future.
Created in 1992, the program covers full tuition and room and board for underserved or rural students interested in studying food, agriculture, natural resources, and other sciences at historically Black land-grant institutions, also referred to as 1890 universities because they were established that year.
The news hit close to home for Strickland, a rural Georgia-based farmer who benefitted from the program nearly a decade ago when he graduated from Florida A&M University where he studied agribusiness. Sad and disappointed, he said he immediately thought about the potential opportunities that could be snatched away and how the âthe brightest of the brightâ are becoming casualties in a political climate that questions equity efforts for Black Americans and other marginalized groups.
President Donald Trumpâs administration has been on a rampage to cut initiatives, programs, and funding tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is often conflated with race and civil rights protections. Farmers and education experts worry the crusade will result in possible cuts to student support programs, struggles to attract diverse staff, and fewer resources, which could force these universities â which are owed billions of dollars from their states â to face closure or reduction in services. Just last month, Tennessee State University, a Black land-grant school, announced that its steep financial challenges could cause the school to run out of money by May, and asked for state lawmakers to intervene.
âIâve understood what the agenda of this new administration is, and part of it includes doing away with programs that were pretty traditional to the federal government,â Strickland said. âIt was enraging. It stung a lot. Of course, Iâm happy that they reinstated the program, but I am skeptical about what even the program and other initiatives around diversity are going to look like going forward.â
Yet, while farmers like Strickland remain uncertain about the programâs future â in addition to funding for HBCUs more broadly â their resolve to mobilize is growing. In response, farmers and education experts are finding ways to organize within â and outside â their communities to ensure the 1890 program and HBCUs are sustainable in the future.
What sparked the public outcry
On Feb. 20, the USDA halted the program âpending review to ensure that the program, its mission and its metrics ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer resources,â the USDAâs Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, which oversees the program, wrote in a statement.
It took public outrage for the program to be restored just days after the initial announcement.
Several congressional leaders â including U.S. Reps. Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Yvette Clark of New York and Alma Adams of North Carolina â criticized Trump and his administration and urged them to reinstate the program. Adams, who serves as a senior member of the House Committee on Agriculture and founding chairwoman of the Bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caucus, said the suspension was âa clear attack on an invaluable program that makes higher education accessible for everybody.â
âThis program is a correction to a long history of racial discrimination within the land-grant system, not an example of it,â she wrote in a statement.
By Feb. 25, the programâs application period had reopened, and applications from rising college juniors, sophomores, and high school seniors entering their freshman year of college will be accepted through March 15. Scholarship recipients will be notified by July, according to the USDA.
Yet, people like Denise Smith, deputy director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, said they remain on high alert and are calling for more support to ensure the sustainability of programs aimed at helping Black students.
âThis is an unfortunate series of events that weâve been seeing happen to our Black colleges, but at this moment, we also need additional support from every angle, legislative as well as philanthropic as well as alumni,â she said. âThis is the moment where everybody is going to have to step up to really ensure that we can support and protect our institutions.â
Young farmers like Strickland, whoâs in his early 30s, credit the 1890 scholars program for his success.
As a recipient of the scholarship, Strickland moved from his home in Illinois to attend FAMU. He graduated in 2015, a journey that included three internships and a post-graduation job at the USDA, aligning with the programâs mission to create a pipeline for students to work at the agency.
Heâs been farming in rural Georgia for the past six years, and last year he opened a grocery store in Crawford, a majority-Black, rural town, after closing his food stand off the highway in Lexington, about 3 miles away from his storefront.
His growth is due to his beginnings at FAMU as an 1890s scholar, he said.
âIt was a life changer for me,â he told Capital B. âThat really helped my foundation and my current occupation ⊠not to mention just being so grateful that Iâm not in any type of college debt because of that. Me and so many other people have had the chance to serve in different rolesâ as a result of the program.
The history behind the program and funding roadblocks
Historically Black land-grant universities are an âinvaluable part of American higher educationâ as they provide access to under-resourced populations and contribute to the economic growth of their states and the nation, said Felecia Commodore, associate professor of education policy, organization, and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Collectively, the universities have contributed $5.5 billion in economic impact and generate more than $52 billion in lifetime earnings for each graduating class.
The institutions play a critical role in research and in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. If you look at the requirements, none of the criteria from the scholarship is based on race or gender, she added, but for those who otherwise wouldnât have had access to higher education and receive top-notch agricultural education training.
âThe USDA scholarship is a really great example of what happens when we get focused on rhetoric. What things look like as opposed to what they are,â Commodore said. âThis isnât, âOh, weâre just investing in Black schools.â Weâre investing in agricultural education opportunities for students from communities that keep our foodways safe, that keep our foodways robust, and ensure that we have a thriving agricultural industry in this country.â
Despite their significant contributions, 1890 land-grant universities have not received their equitable share of resources since their inception, and theyâve had to fight for their due, resulting in a $577 million settlement for HBCUs in Maryland, for example.
More than a century ago, the Morrill Act of 1862 established land-grant institutions by giving states 30,000 acres of land and funding to establish schools focused on teaching, research, and extension services in agriculture, military sciences, and mechanical arts disciplines. Over time, over 100 million acres of land were allocated to states. However, states prevented Black students, who were newly freed slaves, from enrolling at the predominantly white 1862 land-grant universities.
Nearly 30 years later, the second Morrill Act of 1890 prohibited racial discrimination in admissions while creating the 19 Black land-grant institutions. Unlike their counterparts, Black institutions didnât receive land. States determined the funding, which resulted in HBCUs receiving only a single-digit percentage of the funding allowed under the Morrill Act.
This allowed 1862 institutions to get a head start, said Smith at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. She explained how 1890 schools were located in places with undesirable land, making it difficult to cultivate crops or the ability to sell it to create revenue or endowments like 1862 institutions. Smith conducted a comparative analysis of the funding disparities between 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions, while highlighting the importance of 1890 schools.
Under federal law, states are required to provide a dollar-for-dollar match for federal funds. While every state exceeded or met their matching fund requirement for 1862 institutions, a research brief published by Purdue University estimates that from 2010 to 2012, 61% of Black land-grant schools did not receive one-to-one matching funds from their home states. The analysis Smith published through The Century Foundation found that Black land-grant universities lost nearly $195 million in state matching funds between fiscal years 2011 to 2021.
The USDA estimates Black land-grant schools could have received between $172 million to $2.1 billion in funding if their states had provided the required funds over the past three decades. In the fall of 2023, the Biden administration urged states to allocate funding to their land-grant HBCUs in a manner thatâs equitable to their white counterparts.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Tom Vilsack, secretary of Agriculture, sent letters to 16 governors to address the funding challenges. Letters were sent to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Two other states â Delaware and Ohio â have equitably funded their universities. Some leaders in Republican states pushed back, stating how theyâve continued to support their HBCUs.
â1862s have no problem getting their money. ⊠Many of them have a hefty budget that they receive because so many people in the state â legislators in the state might be alumni â want those institutions to succeed, and we should want the same type of resources and support for all the public universities in their state, not just a few,â Smith said.
A chance to step it up and get more involved
Kesha Cobb, farmer and founder of BlackAg Inc. who helped promote the 1890s scholars program last year, encouraged students to not let âthe hiccup in the road affect themâ from receiving a quality education. Cobb, a self-taught farmer from Arkansas, advocates on behalf of new and beginning farmers who have been locked out of federal resources.
This is the time for everyone to get involved whether itâs alumni creating an endowment, hosting fundraising efforts, or connecting with foundations and wealthy people, no matter the demographics, who are willing to support.
With the assault on diversity by the White House and Black farmers getting older, there needs to be a strategy to ensure Black communities arenât left out, she said. Her organization is one of the many feeling the effects of the funding freeze, despite multiple injunctions stopping the Trump administration from doing so.
âI am encouraging everyone to understand our power, understand our influence. ⊠[These students are] the future politicians. Theyâre the future leaders at the USDA,â she said. âWe took that blow, and weâre resilient, and weâre moving forward either way. We want to educate each other, not just Black people, but white people, too. âHey, obviously this is affecting you, so how can we prevent this from happening in the future?â Letâs mobilize and take some action.â
Smith and Commodore called on the government to âmake good on the promises they made to these institutions.â
From a legislative standpoint, Smith points to the Farm Bill, which is the largest investment in food, farming and agriculture, as an avenue to help remedy some of these issues. It supports farmers and agriculture programs, food assistance programs for low-income families, conservation initiatives, and rural housing, broadband, and workforce development.
For Strickland, heâs been in conversations with others about organizing, but remains skeptical about the Trump administration.
âI still feel like there are some looming budget cuts coming our way,â he said. âI still feel like the relationship between the federal government and historically Black colleges, itâs going to be fractured.â