Political Perspective on the HBCU
crisis
By: Kalo Oglesby
With the American political stage
Focusing on key issues such as the financial deficit, Social Welfare programs,
and Donald Trump’s grandiose tax plans being at the core of this country’s
political debate, the circus has become a great sideshow for many, but
continues to exclude important concerns within the college community.
With the primaries swiftly approaching the question of nationalistic issues are vital, but there are key components that the media and candidates are missing that won President Obama the highest office in the land, twice- that being the college voting population. As a college student, I can’t help but think of the questions that aren’t being asked and, the sentiments that many polls have excluded, including the impact of this topic on the HBCU voting population. As a college student, the climate of the collegiate institutions in America and their viability is emphatically diminishing due to the increasing cost of a higher education tag that many middle class families cannot afford.
With the primaries swiftly approaching the question of nationalistic issues are vital, but there are key components that the media and candidates are missing that won President Obama the highest office in the land, twice- that being the college voting population. As a college student, I can’t help but think of the questions that aren’t being asked and, the sentiments that many polls have excluded, including the impact of this topic on the HBCU voting population. As a college student, the climate of the collegiate institutions in America and their viability is emphatically diminishing due to the increasing cost of a higher education tag that many middle class families cannot afford.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
serve students body with the majority at 70percent[ low income, one can’t help
but think what is the political agenda concerning higher education in this
country for the presidential candidates. There has been no other political
casualty that has suffered an immense loss financially, and academically in
education like the Historically Black Colleges.
The cut in appropriations, changes in Pell Grant criteria, and question
of relevancy have become the weapons of choice for many politicians concerning
the Historically Black Institutions.
There is a consensus that I think we
as students have taken on, and have not noticed how detrimental it will be and
is becoming to sit idle while the political landscape continues to change, with
out the notations of the minority college student population concerns. We have
taken the incoherent approach: to carry on business as usual without paying
attention inevitably on the path to serving the fate of Morris Brown College.
With the lack of state funding and the hard pressures of the federal government picking up the bill, the Federal Pell Grant availability has decreased from 18 months to 12, making it much harder for HBCU students who tend to take longer to finish college due to financial needs, family obligations, and participation in organizations that are apart of the HBCU experience. Students who attend HBCU are 17 points more likely to graduate with debt, compared to a student who attends a predominately white school. According to the gall-up poll, twenty-two percent of blacks leave with no debt, counter to 38 percent of whites. Along with the economic structures, and class lines- the political questions concerning us as college students should be asked and it should be a national issues.
With the lack of state funding and the hard pressures of the federal government picking up the bill, the Federal Pell Grant availability has decreased from 18 months to 12, making it much harder for HBCU students who tend to take longer to finish college due to financial needs, family obligations, and participation in organizations that are apart of the HBCU experience. Students who attend HBCU are 17 points more likely to graduate with debt, compared to a student who attends a predominately white school. According to the gall-up poll, twenty-two percent of blacks leave with no debt, counter to 38 percent of whites. Along with the economic structures, and class lines- the political questions concerning us as college students should be asked and it should be a national issues.
