16 states underfunded historically Black land-grant universities, Biden administration says

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Biden administration says Tennessee and nearly every other state with historically Black land-grant universities have missed out on $12.6 billion in funding over the last three decades. News outlets report that federal officials wrote to the governors of each state asking them to increase funding. The letter said the largest disparity was in Tennessee, where Tennessee State University has been underfunded by $2.1 billion.  The land-grant universities were founded on federal land to further agricultural instruction and research. Federal agencies used national education data to find the funding disparity in 16 of 18 states that house Black land grants, with equitable funding provided in only Delaware and Ohio.