Category Archives: Lifestyle

90 Percent of HBCU Graduates Have Student Loan Debt

Posted on April 30, 2013 by | 4 comments

At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence. – Booker T. Washington

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A recent internal study by HBCU Money using data compiled by the Project on Student Debt paints a very grim picture for HBCU graduates. If one is to couple these results with the current financial demographics of income and wealth for African America as a whole it starts to beg the question if we did not put the cart before the horse. An educated African American population completely dependent on private employment controlled by other communities and copious dependency upon public sector jobs for which we ultimately have little control over. Historically, that argument is seeded in the debate between the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Washington believed that economic development should have occurred prior to development of the liberal arts within African America. Dr. DuBois favored agitation for social change and access to mainstream institutions. Parts of his philosophy would serve as a precursor to the integration movement a generation later that some would argue left African American institutions socially and financially crippled thereafter.

HBCUs served 99 percent of the African American population obtaining higher education prior to desegregation while today that number has dwindled to the neighborhood of 10 percent. This steady but rapid decline over the past 60 years has had long-term impacts on HBCU endowments not least among them the probability of producing high quality donors and large alumni populations. The latter being integral since only an average 13 percent of alumni donate nationwide. 13 percent of a small pool of alumni who have 50 times less wealth than the two leading diaspora groups in America did not and does not bode well for HBCU endowments closing the endowment gap. HBCUs losing 90 percent of their core demographic over the past 50 years has made its pool of alumni significantly smaller than it otherwise would have been and therefore indirectly had a significant impact on HBCU endowments. As a result, today’s education seekers at HBCUs are almost guaranteed to graduate with student loan debt and a significant amount of it while being expected to close the wealth gap despite only earning $0.46 for every $1.00 their Asian American counterpart earns. Unfortunately, many in HBCU leadership refused to adjust to this reality then and now – as we see in the continued chase of athletic budgets that could be going toward general student aid.

The results were paired against America’s 50 largest universities by endowment which surprisingly varied by geography, public and private status, and school size eerily similar to that of HBCUs. The Project on Student Debt reports that 66 percent of all college graduates will have student loan debt and average debt of that graduate is $26 600. Again, the number in parentheses shows the comparative results from the universities of the 50 largest endowments.

Median debt of HBCU Graduate – $28 786 ($21 713)

Proportion of HBCU Graduates with debt – 89% (46%)

Nonfederal debt, % of total debt of graduates – 8% (27%)

Pell Grant Recipients – 70% (17%)

These statistics show that HBCU students are 35 percent more likely to graduate with debt than the national average and 93 percent more likely to graduate with debt than someone from a school with a top 50 endowment. Unfortunately, there is no way to break out the African American student loan debt data of those attending those HWCUs which would help control for family resources playing an integral part in the difference. It is hard not to speculate that given top 50 endowments ability to provide more low-income based aid that the student loan debt is potentially lower for African Americans at HWCUs both in terms of percentage of those graduating with debt and how much debt. It should be noted though that these low-income students are usually academic overachievers and rarely run the academic gambit that HBCUs serve. Despite HBCUs on a whole being cheaper to attend, students are still finishing with 8 percent higher debt than the national average and 33 percent higher debt than those at a top 50 endowment institution. At first examination nonfederal debt (private loans) as a percentage of a graduate’s debt appears to be an HBCU advantage in that only 8 percent of HBCU graduates debt is composed of private loans versus 27 percent for those at a top 50 endowment institution. Further examination though suggest this is a result of family resources. African American families are less likely to have access to the capital and credit to secure private loans which can often be the difference between a student’s ability to stay in school and having to drop out for a variable amount of reasons. The lack of private debt has strong correlation between the institutional weakness of African American owned financial firms primarily banks and credit unions. Lastly, Federal Pell Grant percentage is a fairly direct reflection of the median net worth of African America which is last among all diaspora groups in America according to the latest Pew research.

We could spend years playing the blame game of why this situation is as it is. Unfortunately, African America does not have that kind of time. Student loan debt is fast becoming the current and upcoming generation’s means of separating the have and have not in terms of wealth and asset accumulation. A wealth gap that has grown from $85 000 to $237 000 over the past 25 years according to the Economic Policy Institute between African Americans and European Americans. The reality is that even if we could take student loan debt down to zero for our graduates the wealth gap would still be quite pronounced and an uphill struggle would exist. However, HBCUs can start to do their part by not making an already burdensome situation worse with more creative means of reducing student debt loads. An out of the box approach to this situation is needed and recognition that the African American financial situation is unique and more importantly in crisis. Mimicking the “American” higher education institutional strategy without taking into account the African reality is a recipe for disaster. Alumni, administrators, and our community must take up solving this problem because “education at any cost” is something we simply can not afford.

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HBCU Money™ Histronomics: The Bayh-Dole Act

Posted on April 3, 2013 by | 1 comment

Excerpt from The Great American University by Dr. Jonathan Cole explaining the impact of the Bayh-Dole Act on colleges and universities:

“The change in the law that this act engendered was simple but of profound significance: In the past, intellectual property rights resulting from federally sponsored research at universities had been assigned to the federal government; they would now be assigned to the universities themselves. The universities would be able to patent discoveries and license the patented material to businesses interested in developing marketable products. Universities could even sponsor start-up companies based on the intellectual property that they owned and hold an equity stake in them.”

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The Bayh-Dole Act

It is the policy and objective of the Congress to use the patent system to promote the utilization of inventions arising from federally supported research or development; to encourage maximum participation of small business firms in federally supported research and development efforts; to promote collaboration between commercial concerns and nonprofit organizations, including universities; to ensure that inventions made by nonprofit organizations and small business firms are used in a manner to promote free competition and enterprise without unduly encumbering future research and discovery; to promote the commercialization and public availability of inventions made in the United States by United States industry and labor; to ensure that the Government obtains sufficient rights in federally supported inventions to meet the needs of the Government and protect the public against nonuse or unreasonable use of inventions; and to minimize the costs of administering policies in this area.

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HBCU Money™ Histronomics: Martin Luther King, Jr. on African American Owned Banks & Institutions

Posted on February 19, 2013 by | 7 comments

Below is an excerpt rarely mentioned from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” bringing into focus his feelings on the need for African American economic independence and the need for African Americans to support, strengthen, and build strong institutions under their ownership and stewardship. The next day he would be assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

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It’s all right to talk about “long white robes over yonder,” in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here! It’s all right to talk about “streets flowing with milk and honey,” but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day. It’s all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.

Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively — that means all of us together — collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it.

We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We don’t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, “God sent us by here, to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God’s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.”

And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy — what is the other bread? — Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart’s bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven’t been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on town — downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.

But not only that, we’ve got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a “bank-in” movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. I’m not asking you something that we don’t do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we are doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies here in the city of Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an “insurance-in.”

Now these are some practical things that we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.

Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school — be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 3, 1968)


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HBCU Money™ Histronomics: Benjamin Banneker’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson

Posted on December 26, 2012 by | Leave a comment

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Maryland, Baltimore County, August 19 1791

Sir,
I am fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom, which I take with you on the present occasion ; a liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand, and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion.

I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of beings, who have long labored under the abuse and censure of the world ; that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt ; and that we have long been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments.

Sir, I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of that report which hath reached me, that you are a man far less inflexible in sentiments of this nature, than many others ; that you are measurably friendly, and well disposed towards us ; and that you are willing and ready to lend your aid and assistance to our relief, from those many distresses, and numerous calamities, to which we are reduced. Now Sir, if this is founded in truth, I apprehend you will embrace every opportunity, to eradicate that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions, which so generally prevails with respect to us ; and that your sentiments are concurrent with mine, which are, that one universal Father hath given being to us all ; and that he hath not only made us all of one flesh, but that he hath also, without partiality, afforded us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties ; and that however variable we may be in society or religion, however diversified in situation or color, we are all of the same family, and stand in the same relation to him.

Sir, if these are sentiments of which you are fully persuaded, I hope you cannot but acknowledge, that it is the indispensable duty of those, who maintain for themselves the rights of human nature, and who possess the obligations of Christianity, to extend their power and influence to the relief of every part of the human race, from whatever burden or oppression they may unjustly labor under ; and this, I apprehend, a full conviction of the truth and obligation of these principles should lead all to. Sir, I have long been convinced, that if your love for yourselves, and for those inestimable laws, which preserved to you the rights of human nature, was founded on sincerity, you could not but be solicitous, that every individual, of whatever rank or distinction, might with you equally enjoy the blessings thereof ; neither could you rest satisfied short of the most active effusion of your exertions, in order to their promotion from any state of degradation, to which the unjustifiable cruelty and barbarism of men may have reduced them.

Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that color which is natural to them of the deepest dye ; and it is under a sense of the most profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, that I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of tyrannical thralldom, and inhuman captivity, to which too many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed from that free and unequalled liberty with which you are favored ; and which, I hope, you will willingly allow you have mercifully received, from the immediate hand of that Being, from whom proceeded every good and perfect Gift.

Sir, suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms and tyranny of the British crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude: look back, I entreat you, on the variety of dangers to which you were expose; reflect on that time, in which every human aid appeared unavailable, and in which even hope and fortitude wore the aspect of inability to the conflict, and you cannot but be led to a serious and grateful sense of your miraculous and providential preservation ; you cannot but acknowledge, that the present freedom and tranquility which you enjoy you have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of Heaven.

This, Sir, was a time when you clearly saw into the injustice of a state of slavery, and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its condition. It was now that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you publicly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be recorded and remembered in all succeeding ages : “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Here was a time, in which your tender feelings for yourselves had engaged you thus to declare, you were then impressed with proper ideas of the great violation of liberty, and the free possession of those blessings, to which you were entitled by nature ; but, Sir, how pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of Mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of these rights and privileges, which he hath conferred upon them, that you should at the same time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren, under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you professedly detested in others, with respect to yourselves.

I suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my brethren, is too extensive to need a recital here ; neither shall I presume to prescribe methods by which they may be relieved, otherwise than by recommending to you and all others, to wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with respect to them, and as Job proposed to his friends, “put your soul in their souls’ stead ;” thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards them ; and thus shall you need neither the direction of myself or others, in what manner to proceed herein. And now, Sir, although my sympathy and affection for my brethren hath caused my enlargement thus far, I ardently hope, that your candor and generosity will plead with you in my behalf, when I make known to you, that it was not originally my design ; but having taken up my pen in order to direct to you, as a present, a copy of an Almanac, which I have calculated for the succeeding year, I was unexpectedly and unavoidably led thereto.

This calculation is the production of my arduous study, in this my advanced stage of life ; for having long had unbounded desires to become acquainted with the secrets of nature, I have had to gratify my curiosity herein, through my own assiduous application to Astronomical Study, in which I need not recount to you the many difficulties and disadvantages, which I have had to encounter.

And although I had almost declined to make my calculation for the ensuing year, in consequence of that time which I had allotted therefore, being taken up at the Federal Territory, by the request of Mr. Andrew Ellicott, yet finding myself under several engagements to Printers of this state, to whom I had communicated my design, on my return to my place of residence, I industriously applied myself thereto, which I hope I have accomplished with correctness and accuracy ; a copy of which I have taken the liberty to direct to you, and which I humbly request you will favorably receive ; and although you may have the opportunity of perusing it after its publication, yet I choose to send it to you in manuscript previous thereto, that thereby you might not only have an earlier inspection, but that you might also view it in my own hand writing.

And now, Sir, I shall conclude, and subscribe myself, with the most profound respect,

Your most obedient humble servant,

Benjamin Banneker

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HBCU Money™ Histronomics: Second Morrill Act of 1890

Posted on July 12, 2012 by | 1 comment

Act of August 30, 1890, ch. 841, 26 Stat. 417, 7 U.S.C. 322 et seq.

Chap. 841.–AN ACT To apply a portion of the proceeds of the public lands to the more complete endowment and support of the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts established under the provisions of an act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled , That there shall be and hereby is, annually appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, arising from the sales of public lands; to be paid as hereinafter provided to each State and Territory for the more complete endowment and maintenance of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts now established, or which may be hereafter established, in accordance with an act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and an annual increase of the amount of such appropriation thereafter for ten years by an additional sum of one thousand dollars over the preceding year, and the annual amount to be paid thereafter to each State and Territory shall be fifty thousand dollars to be applied only to instruction in food and agricultural sciences (1) and to the facilities for such instruction: Provided , That said colleges may use a portion of this money for providing courses for the special preparation of instructors for teaching the elements of agriculture and the mechanic arts: (2) Provided , (3) That no money shall be paid out under this act to any State or Territory for the support and maintenance of a college where a distinction of race or color is made in the admission of students, but the establishment and maintenance of such colleges separately for white and colored students shall be held to be a compliance with the provisions of this act if the funds received in such State or Territory be equitably divided as hereinafter set forth: Provided , That in any State in which there has been one college established in pursuance of the act of July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and also in which an educational institution of like character has been established, or may be hereafter established, and is now aided by such State from its own revenue, for the education of colored students in agriculture and the mechanic arts, however named or styled, or whether or not it has received money heretofore under the act to which this act is an amendment, the legislature of such State may propose and report to the Secretary of Education (4) a just and equitable division of the fund to be received under this act between one college for white students and one institution for colored students established as aforesaid which shall be divided into two parts and paid accordingly, and thereupon such institution for colored students shall be entitled to the benefits of this act and subject to its provisions, as much as it would have been if it had been included under the act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the fulfillment of the foregoing provisions shall be taken as a compliance with the provision in reference to separate colleges for white and colored students. (5)

SEC. 2. (6) That the sums hereby appropriated to the States and Territories for the further endowment and support of colleges shall be annually paid on or before the thirty-first day of October of each year, by the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the warrant of the Secretary of Education, out of the Treasury of the United States, to the State or Territorial treasurer, or to such officer as shall be designated by the laws of such State or Territory to receive the same, who shall, upon the order of the trustees of the college, or the institution for colored students, immediately pay over said sums to the treasurers of the respective colleges or other institutions entitled to the Secretary of Agriculture and to the Secretary of Education, on or before the first day of December of each year, a detailed statement of the amount so received and of its disbursement. The grants of moneys authorized by this act are made subject to the legislative assent of the several States and Territories to the purpose of said grants: Provided , That payments of such installments of the appropriation herein made as shall become due to any State before the adjournment of the regular session of legislature meeting next after the passage of this act shall be made upon the assent of the governor thereof, duly certified to the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 3. (7) That if any portion of the moneys received by the designated officer of the State or Territory for the further and more complete endowment, support, and maintenance of colleges, or of institutions for colored students, as provided in this act, shall by any action or contingency, be diminished or lost, or be misapplied, it shall be replaced by the State or Territory to which it belongs, and until so replaced no subsequent appropriation shall be apportioned or paid to such State or Territory; and no portion of said moneys shall be applied, directly or indirectly, under any pretense whatever, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings. An annual report by the president of each of said colleges shall be made to the Secretary of Agriculture, as well as to the Secretary of Education, regarding the condition and progress of each college, including statistical information in relation to its receipts and expenditures, its library, the number of its students and professors, and also as to any improvements and experiments made under the direction of any experiment stations attached to said colleges, with their cost and results, and such other industrial and economical statistics as may be regarded as useful, one copy of which shall be transmitted by mail free to all other colleges further endowed under this Act.

SEC. 4. (8) That on or before the first day of October in each year, after the passage of this act, the Secretary of Education shall ascertain and certify to the Secretary of the Treasury as to each State and Territory whether it is entitled to receive its share of the annual appropriation for colleges, or of institutions for colored students, under this act, and the amount which thereupon each is entitled, respectively, to receive. If the Secretary of Education shall withhold a certificate from any State or Territory of its appropriation the facts and reasons therefor shall be reported to the President, and the amount involved shall be kept separate in the Treasury until the close of the next Congress, in order that the State or Territory may, if it should so desire, appeal to Congress from the determination of the Secretary of Education. If the next Congress shall not direct such sum to be paid it shall be covered into the Treasury. And the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby charged with the proper administration of this law. (9)

SEC. 5. (10) There is authorized to be appropriated annually for payment to the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, (11) Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (other than the Northern Mariana Islands) the amount they would receive under this Act if they were States. Sums appropriated under this section shall be treated in the same manner and be subject to the same provisions of law, as would be the case if they had been appropriated by the first sentence of this Act.

SEC. 6. (12) Congress may at any time amend, suspend, or repeal any or all of the provisions of this Act.

(1) The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amendments of 1981, Public Law 97-98, 95 Stat. 1306, section 1421(a), amended the first section by deleting the words “agriculture, the mechanic arts,” and all that follows through “industries of life” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “food and agricultural sciences”.

(2) 7 U.S.C. 322. The Act of March 4, 1907, ch. 2907, 34 Stat. 1281, increased the amount appropriated annually from $25,000 to $50,000 and added the proviso.

(3) 7 U.S.C. 323.

(4) The words “Secretary of Education” are inserted on authority of the Department of Education Organic Act, Public Law 96-85, section 310, 93 Stat. 677. The Agriculture and Food Act of 1981, Public Law 97-98, 95 Stat. 1306, section 1419, transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture all the functions and duties of the Secretary of Education under the Act of August 30, 1890.

(5) The National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amendments of 1981 , Public Law 97-98, 95 Stat. 1312, section 1433, provided authority to award grants to upgrade 1890 land-grant college research facilities.

(6) 7 U.S.C. 324. The proviso at the end of section 2 is omitted from U.S.C. For authority for insertion of “Secretary of Education”, see footnote 4. The Act of April 21, 1976, Public Law 94-273, 90 Stat. 378, section 9(l), substituted the words “October” and “December” for the words “July” and “September”.

(7) 7 U.S.C. 325. For authority for insertion of “Secretary of Education”, see footnote 4.

(8) 7 U.S.C. 326. The Act of April 21, 1976, Public Law 94-273, 90 Stat. 376, section 3(l), deleted “July” and inserted “October”. For authority for insertion of “Secretary of Education”, see footnote 4.

(9) 7 U.S.C. 321. For authority for insertion of “Secretary of Education”, see footnote 4.

(10) 7 U.S.C. 326a. Added by the Act of June 23, 1972, Public Law 92-318, 86 Stat. 350, section 506(c). Original section 5 of the Act of August 30, 1890, with respect to annual reports by the Secretary of the Interior was repealed by the Act of May 29, 1928, 45 Stat. 99, section 74.

(11) Amended by the Education Amendments of 1980, Public Law 96-374, 94 Stat. 1502, section 1361(b), to add “American Samoa, and Micronesia”. Further amended by the Act of August 27, 1986, Public Law 99-396, 100 Stat. 840, section 9(b), to delete “and Micronesia, and Guam” and insert “Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (other than the Northern Mariana Islands)”.

(12) 7 U.S.C. 328.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

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