Republicans are being dishonest about Pres. Obama not helping HBCUs

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

GOP lawmakers are planning to meet with the presidents of several HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) to discuss what these schools need and how they can help them survive. Now instead of just touting how they plan to help black students, Conservatives/Republicans have used this as an opportunity to attack President Obama in the eyes of African Americans.

They are spreading the lie that President Obama did little for HBCU's or cut funding to those schools and what's worse is that many of those spreading that lie are African Americans conservatives/pundits. Of course, they are saying/writing this to expound upon their false narrative that Obama did little to help African Americans. The sad part is that saying that Obama did little for HBCU's is a flat out lie.

Here are the FACTS

Over the course of 7 years, the Obama Administration has invested more than $4 billion in HBCUs, because these institutions are vital engines of economic growth and proven ladders of advancement for generations of African Americans.

Under the Obama Administration, 1 million more African-American and Latino students have enrolled in college. What’s more, black and Hispanic students earned more than 270,000 more undergraduate degrees in 2013-2014 than in 2008-2009. This Administration remains focused on continuing to increase the number of students who successfully complete college. To that end, the Department has worked to make new opportunities available to HBCUs.

Federal funding to HBCUs has grown each year since 2009. Through the Higher Education Act, HBCUs received a $17 million funding increase this year—the largest increase for the federal Strengthening HBCUs program in six years. And President Obama’s FY 2017 budget seeks to maintain and strengthen these opportunities for HBCUs to build their capacity. The FY 2017 budget proposes $85 million in mandatory funding to HBCUs, an increase of $5 million from FY 2016, plus an additional $244.7 million in discretionary funds for Title III.

The Administration has also fought for and won a historic commitment to fully fund Pell Grants and expand student aid for millions of low-income students. Pell Grant funding for HBCU students increased significantly between 2007 and 2014, growing from $523 million to $824 million. This year, President Obama announced a plan to make sure that Pell Grants are fully funded, including inflationary adjustments, and used strategically by students to reduce time and cost for receiving a terminal degree. The President’s 2017 budget also proposes a $30 million HBCU and Minority Serving Institution Innovation for Completion Fund, to help students from low-income backgrounds overcome challenges and persist through graduation day.

[SOURCE: US Dept. of Education]

What's also left out of the conversation is that most HBCUs are in states with Republican governors and state legislators. THEY are the ones that produce a budget and allocate where funds go not the President of the United States. So any funding cuts were done by the States, not President Obama.

So in closing, I would like to say to my conservative 'friends,' in the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."

When did Republicans start caring about black colleges?

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Florida A&M University moves ahead with plans to create African-American news network

Florida A&M University is moving forward with plans to create the first-ever African-American new network, with the university as its headquarters.

"The Black Television News Channel" will broadcast in 14 cities across the US including New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, with hopes of becoming a world-wide station. This comes thanks to a new agreement with Charter Communications.

FAMU first joined the project to bring the Black Television News Channel to viewers in 2014. While there is an 11-year agreement to house the network on campus, many involved are hopeful that the channel and the cooperation with the university will last much longer.

The project is expected to bring hundreds of jobs and 30 million dollars in economic stimulus to Tallahassee, in addition to training for FAMU journalism students.

"Black Television News Channel will focus on the African-American community. We will broadcast 24 hours, 7 days a week, world-wide, much like CNN or Fox, or MSNBC, says former Tallahassee mayor John Marks who is one of the principles in starting the project. "Our focus however will be on the African-American community and bringing news from an African-American perspective. That's the idea for the network at this point in time. "

[SOURCE:WTXL]

Land-Grant HBCUs Seeking Aid From Congress

The nation’s 19 historically Black land-grant colleges (the so-called 1890 HBCUs), are expected this week to have a Congressional hearing on a plan to specifically strengthen the institutions’ financial abilities to provide formal education to minorities and others pursuing studies in the agricultural sciences.

The full House Committee, chaired by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, plans to hear Wednesday morning from two panels — one of lawmakers and one of university presidents — about a House resolution (6020) that would provide each of the 19 institutions $1 million a year for five years to fund scholarships for students planning to pursue careers in the field of agriculture.

The scholarship funds proposal by Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., represent what Scott notes is a “drop in the bucket” from the billions spent annually by the federal government to help higher education.

Still, he says, there is positive action on the proposal for a variety of reasons. It would come at a crucial time in history, as the ranks of the nation’s agricultural farming and producer population are declining rapidly. The average age of the declining ranks — 60 years old, according to federal population studies — is getting higher and higher.

Scott’s proposal also would give a needed boost to the 1890 colleges, a specific group of public colleges created to fulfill a post-Civil War effort by the government to provide agricultural education training and services to Blacks in 19 states.

Read more: Land-Grant HBCUs Seeking Aid From Congress

Thurgood Marshall College Fund & Complete College America Announce Partnership to Boost HBCU Graduation Rates

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and Complete College America (CCA) announced today the formation of a new partnership that will focus efforts on boosting graduation rates throughout the nation's black colleges, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs). The announcement was made as part of CCA's 2016 Annual Convening of the Alliance in San Francisco, an event that brought together close to 600 higher education leaders and advocates from around the country. TMCF President & CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. served as the closing keynote speaker for the event.

TMCF will join CCA as the 41st member of the organization's Alliance – a network of states and institutional consortia that have committed to completion goals and implementation at scale of the organization's Game Changers strategies. TMCF's membership, which greatly enhances CCA's ongoing efforts to close achievement gaps, is the first of its kind - representing a national consortium of nearly 50 publicly-supported black colleges that will now have access to the full breadth of CCA's resources and technical assistance efforts.

"HBCUs have long been our nation's greatest champions for ensuring access to college, especially for African American students," said Complete College America President Stan Jones. "Today's announcement demonstrates the seriousness of their commitment not only to access, but to student success and completion. We applaud the Thurgood Marshall College Fund – and the colleges they represent – and look forward to working together to dramatically boost college completion rates and close achievement gaps."

"I am extremely proud of this partnership and TMCF's inclusion because it is solution driven.  It's no secret that black college graduation rates could be higher. TMCF is committed to be apart of the solution to educate, empower and encourage students on our campuses to stay the course, finish the race and graduate," said Johnny C. Taylor Jr. "The strategic alliance with CCA is timely and I have no doubt will lead to positive outcomes for our students and member-schools. This is a new day for black colleges."

The first joint project for TMCF and CCA will be the collection of completion data using CCA's Common College Completion Metrics. The initial collection – which will explore graduation rates, credit accumulation, time to degree, and remediation rates, among other data – will provide baseline information to advance the organizations' shared mission to close achievement gaps.

In addition, TMCF will also be launching a national 15 to Finish campaign with member institutions to encourage more students to take at least 15 credits per semester (30 credits per year)—the only enrollment level that puts students on track for on-time completion. The 15 to Finish initiative, which began at the University of Hawai'i, is one of Complete College America's five Game Changing strategies.

The two organizations will invite philanthropic partners to help fund broad-based implementation of CCA's strategies at HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions.

About Thurgood Marshall College FundThe Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), established in 1987 is named for the U.S. Supreme Court's first African-American Justice. TMCF represents all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and its member-schools include the 47 publicly-supported HBCUs. With TMCF member-schools educating 80% of all students attending HBCUs, TMCF helps students with a clear intention to succeed acquire a high-quality college education at an affordable cost. TMCF also efficiently connects high performing, world-ready students with top tier employment opportunities—access that students or employers might not have on their own. Through its scholarships and programs, TMCF plays a key role in preparing the leaders of tomorrow.

TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. For more information about TMCF and its initiatives, visit: www.tmcf.org.

About Complete College AmericaEstablished in 2009, Complete College America is a national nonprofit with a single mission: to work with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. For more information, visit our website (http://www.completecollege.org/).

SOURCE Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Related Links

http://tmcf.org

Hillary Clinton's plan to to help HBCUs (Historically black colleges & universities)

Donald Trump has been talking to white crowds about how he would help the African American community while actually insulting black people. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has taken the time to devise plans to help African Americans. One of those plans is Hillary Clinton’s New College Compact. The compact  benefits historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Historically Black Colleges and Universities play a critical role in our higher education system. They provide African Americans and other minorities with a quality education, and increase the chances of social mobility and economic security for hundreds of thousands of students each year who have historically faced discriminatory and unequal treatment.

The role of HBCUs has never been more vital, graduating the majority of African American teachers in our country, nearly 1 in 5 African Americans who earn science and engineering BAs, and HBCUs are serving more than 300,000 students. Predominantly Black Institutions also play a critical role and will be eligible for all of the supports for HBCUsin Hillary Clinton’s college plan.

Hillary Clinton knows the critical role that HBCUs play in extending opportunity to underserved students. The New College Compact will support, encourage, and reward the HBCUs that help our students succeed so students can complete college, without costs being a barrier or debt holding them back.

For all public HBCUs, under the New College Compact students should never have to take out a loan to earn four-year degrees and will not have to pay a dime to earn two-year degrees because the plan:

• Invests new federal funds in states that commit to investing more in public HBCUs, meaning that HBCUs benefit from additional federal as well as state support under her plan.
• Invests more funds when public schools enroll low- and middle-income students, meaning that HBCUs, which play a key role in educating underserved students, will be eligible forproportionally more support.
• Ensures that Pell recipients at these public HBCUs can direct their full Pell fundingtoward living expenses.

For all private HBCUs, Clinton’s plan:

• Creates a dedicated $25 billion fund to provide support to private nonprofit schools that serve low- and middle-income students and help them build the skills they need, of which private HBCUs are a prime example.

This plank in Clinton’s plan was inspired by the America’s College Promise Act, introduced in Congress in July by Rep. Bobby Scott, which is designed to create new pathways to four-year degrees at HBCUs as well as other MSIs. The new funds help the schools lower attendance costs and implement supports to improve student outcomes. Clinton knows that private HBCUs serve an important public mission, and that’s why she makes a significant commitment to these schools in her plan.

And for all HBCUs, both public and private, Clinton’s plan

• Significantly cuts the interest rates that students pay on any loans they take out so that the government never profits on the loans.
• Enables students with debt to refinance their loans at low current rates. Parents with PLUS loans will also be able to refinance at current rates.
• Extends the American Opportunity Tax Credit with its $1,000 refundable credit to low-income families sending their sons and daughters to these schools.
• Ensures that parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program will not have to take out such high levels of debt in order to send their children and grandchildren to these schools.
• Enables students never to have to repay more than 10 percent of their monthly income.
• Builds on programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP to invest in student support, including child care for students who are parents, to help all students stay in school and boost completion.

Hampton University at the top of National Rankings

Money Magazine names HU a 'college that adds the most value'

Hampton, Va. - Hampton University is ranked at the top of several prestigious college listings distancing many institutions of its size across many noteworthy categories.

Money Magazine, U.S. News & World Report and Washington Monthly gave Hampton University high rankings for its research programs, university services and for being one of the best universities overall.

The Money Magazine recognition names Hampton University as an institution that “best helps students exceed expectations,” placing HU as one of only 50 Colleges in the country that Add the Most Value. The ranking was based on value-added grades for graduation rates, earnings, and student loan repayment.

U.S. News & World Report continues to rank Hampton University as one of the top 3 Best Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition, Hampton University is ranked #18 on the list of noteworthy South Regional Universities giving HU the distinction of being within the top 10% of that category.

Washington Monthly 2015 College Rankings highlighted Hampton University in the upper third of the Top 100 Master's Universities at #29. HU is ranked #6 in the Research/Bachelor's to Ph.D. category and #9 in the Service/ROTC. Washington Monthly’s college rankings measure institutions based on three criteria: civic engagement, research and social mobility. "My congratulations to the faculty and staff for helping Hampton University to achieve these notable distinctions," said HU President Dr. William R. Harvey. "Clearly, any objective analysis will show that our institution is one of the best modest-sized universities in the country."

[SOURCE]

Morris Brown College emerging from bankruptcy

The beleaguered Morris Brown College is in the process of emerging from three years of bankruptcy and $30 million of debt, according to Anne Aaronson, the Philadelphia-based lawyer with Dilworth Paxson LLP, who has represented the historically black Atlanta college in bankruptcy court.

"The court confirmed the college's plan of reorganization on Wednesday," Aaronson told Creative Loafing via email today. "We anticipate an order being entered shortly. Afterwards we will begin making distributions and file a notice of effective date, signaling the school's emergence from the chapter 11 process."

Once completed, this will bring an end an arduous process that involved proposed and rejected land deals before one was finally struck last year. Morris Brown sold 26 acres of property and buildings for approximately $14.7 million to the city's economic development arm, Invest Atlanta, and Friendship Baptist Church, one of two historic black churches sold to the city and demolished for the construction of the future Atlanta Falcons stadium.

Read more: Morris Brown College emerging from bankruptcy

Historically black schools say Obama’s policies have fallen short

The country’s first African American president is finding himself increasingly at odds with a cornerstone of the African American community: historically black colleges and universities.

Leaders at these schools and some black lawmakers say the Obama administration has been pushing policies for years that hurt students at a time when historically black colleges are already cash-strapped and seeing a drop in enrollment.

Tensions spilled over after a recent Congressional Black Caucus meeting with Obama and Vice President Biden in which the president said that historically black schools, also known as HBCUs, needed to do a better job graduating students and not saddling them with debt, according to several people at the meeting. Some Black Caucus members bristled at those remarks since they say the president didn’t acknowledge that his own administration was also pursuing policies that advocates say are hurting the schools.

“The president thinks that HBCUs — and there may in fact be some — are failing our students,” said Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), who was in attendance. “But there needs to be an open dialogue about higher education and why HBCUs have historically gotten short shrift when it comes to resources and recognition.”

Read more: Historically black schools say Obama’s policies have fallen short

Black colleges face hard choices on $25 million gift from Koch brothers

America's black colleges are struggling for funds. The Republican Party is struggling to attract black voters.

Enter a $25 million gift to the United Negro College Fund from the conservative Koch brothers, which has pitted the needs of black students against liberals' insistence that the Kochs are pursuing a racist political agenda.

Whether genuine philanthropy, political jujitsu or some of both, the gift sparked a debate that peaked when Lee Saunders, president of the powerful American Federation for State, County and Municipal Employees union, sent the UNCF a blistering letter ending the union's financial support.

Historically black colleges and universities have educated a huge percentage of black America. Today, HBCUs are facing unprecedented challenges: decreases in government funding, tougher parent loan eligibility, and the threat of losing even more federal aid based on low retention and graduation rates.

In this environment, how could the UNCF turn down $25 million? Read more: Black colleges face hard choices on $25 million gift from Koch brothers

10 Historically Black Schools Where Alumni Give the Most

[SOURCE] At many historically black colleges and universities, which were created to educate African-American students and are designated by the U.S. Department of Education, the average percentage of alumni giving hovers below 10 percent. But some black institutions have alumni who donate at a much higher rate, according to data submitted to U.S. News by 45 ranked institutions. Check out the top 10 schools for alumni donations below:

School name (state)	Average percentage of alumni who donate	U.S. News Historically Black Colleges and Universities ranking
Claflin University (SC)	43	7
Spelman College (GA)	37.3	1
Morehouse College (GA)	29.3	2
Tuskegee University (AL)	23	5
Livingstone College (NC)	21.4	RNP*
Central State University (OH)	19.8	34
Fort Valley State University (GA)	17.2	34
University of Arkansas--Pine Bluff	13.6	RNP
Johnson C. Smith University (NC)	13.5	RNP
Tougaloo College (MS)	12.9	RNP

* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.