After his recent tour of historically Black colleges and universities, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 2020 presidential candidate released a plan to cancel HBCUs’ public loan debt, make private and public HBCUs free and issue an executive order strengthening the HBCU White House Initiative, Essence reported.
Sen. Bernie SandersHe also proposed a $5 billion fund to expand teacher-training programs at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions, as well as an additional $5 billion for programs that increase recruitment and retention of minority K-12 teachers. Another $5 billion fund would go to medical and dental schools at minority serving institutions to combat racial inequities in the healthcare system.
His proposal included billions of dollars for minority serving institutions in Green New Deal research funds as well.
“All over this country, too many HBCUs have struggled financially from a lack of federal resources, they’ve suffered from a drop in enrollment and from crushing institutional debt,” Sanders said at an event at Morehouse College. “And yet today, the need for HBCUs and the education they provide has never been greater.”
