FUTURE Act establishes permanent funding to HBCUs, simplifies FAFSA

Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was enacted to provide federal assistance for a program to strengthen and improve the academic quality, strengthen the administrative capacity, and establish an endowment fund in order to achieve growth and self-sufficiency for developing institutions. This funding expired on September 30, 2019. The bipartisan proposal permanently reinstating the funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). According to U.S. News, the proposal is paid for by simplifying the FAFSA by eliminating up to 22 questions and requiring applicants to submit their tax information only once. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the changes would save taxpayers $2.8 billion over ten years, which will be used to pay for the permanent funding for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions. Inside Higher Ed explains that the FUTURE Act would also eliminate paperwork for the 7.7 million federal student loan borrowers currently on income-driven repayment plans by automating income recertification.

There are four main categories of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) listed by the Department of the Interior. Those institutions include Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI). HBCUs, Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) collectively serve nearly four million students, accounting for more than one-quarter of all undergraduates.

HBCUs include 91 four-year and 17 two-year institutions of higher education established prior to 1964, for the primary purpose of educating African-Americans. HBCUs graduate over 40% of African-American members of congress, 40% of African-American engineers, and over 50% of African-American lawyers. HSIs are accredited, post-secondary, higher educational institutions with at least 25% total full-time enrollment of Hispanic undergraduate students. HSIs included four-year and two-year, public and private educational institutions. HSIs enroll 40% of all Hispanic-American students of higher education. The 35 public and private Tribal Colleges and Universities provide a response to the higher education needs of American Indians, and generally serve geographically-isolated populations that have no other means of accessing education beyond the high school level.

S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting is hopeful that this Act will pass through the House and into law, guaranteeing federal support for these important HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) who continue to increase access to higher education across race and socioeconomic status.