The formula to bringing Maryland’s historically Black universities on par with the state’s traditionally White institutions will require increased funding for critical improvements, according to an expert panel established by Maryland state officials.

The six-member Panel on the Comparability and Competitiveness of Historically Black Institutions in Maryland released a 33-page report earlier this week calling for numerous enhancements to Maryland’s four historically Black universities, including the construction of new science and technology facilities and increased investment in undergraduate retention efforts as well as in doctoral programs at Morgan State University and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Dr. Earl Richardson, the president of Morgan State University, praised the report for validating what Morgan State officials and Black college advocates in Maryland have been saying about the state’s Black universities being seriously underfunded and lacking resources. Between 2000 and 2005, the state of Maryland was under order by the U.S. Education’s Office of Civil Rights to improve programs and facilities at historically Black institutions in the state, a remedy to vestiges of past discrimination. Black college advocates have since contended that the state has failed to fulfill its obligations to the predominantly Black campuses.

“I welcome the report. It has been long in the making,” Richardson said. “I think that while it’s not a perfect report, it’s a very important report. It confirms what many of us have said for a long time, that our Black colleges have not had the investment necessary to achieve our vision for these institutions and to ensure equal educational opportunities for the students they serve.”

The report was commissioned in order to help set guidelines and formulas for state support of historically black institutions. The report identified four broad areas needing improvement: undergraduate education, doctoral-level education and research, general institutional facilities and operations, and state program approval and funding.