After Years of Neglect, Maryland HBCUs Get Money But Need More
Over the last several months, Bowie State University President Mickey Burnim has been playing tour guide, inviting members of congress and legislators from Annapolis to his campus, showing them the old, outdated science building, with cramped quarters and bad equipment; and a roof that was leaking until recently. He wants lawmakers to see first-hand what he needs. If half the freshman class wanted to take biology this year, they couldn't, because there simply isn't enough lab space. And if students can't take the prerequisite courses, graduation will be delayed.
But a new science building isn't in the budget — yet.
Governor Martin O'Malley recently released Maryland's Fiscal Year 2010 budget; trying to reduce a $2 billion deficit he cut costs across the board. One of the few items in the budget not to take a hit was higher education. While a 2 percent increase sounds small, most every other part of the budget went down by 1.3 percent.
"Any cuts in the budget tend to impact HBCUs and the student population that we serve disproportionately," says Clinton R. Coleman, Morgan State University spokesperson. "Any cut in the budget really hits us harder."
The governor's office points out that the state's historically Black colleges and universities did fairly well in the proposed budget — there's a 3.3 percent increase in funding for historically Black institutions over the year before. Bowie and Morgan State received 28 percent of the $221 million allotted to all public four-year colleges. The governor's spokesperson says funding for HBIs has increased more than 20 percent since O'Malley took office — HBIs have received about $700 million.
But the fact is, they need more to help make up for past years of neglect, according to a state commissioned report released last fall.
"Yes, HBCUs could use additional support, but all of higher education is crying out for support," says Dr. Jim Lyons, secretary of higher education.
