Fair Funding
Ensuring fair and equitable funding of 1890
land-grant universities is our top priority
- Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover, Ph.D, J.D., CPA
About Us
Education has long been a cornerstone of African American progress. Yet, equitable funding and resource allocation remain significant challenges, resulting in decades of disparate treatment of colleges and universities that serve Black students. The most blatant example of this inequity in is the underfunding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
A recent joint report from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that 16 states have collectively shortchanged HBCUs by more than $12 billion over the last 30 years alone. This chronic underfunding continues to threaten the promise of equity the Morrill Act of 1890 was designed to fulfill.
Chief among our efforts is closing the unjust funding gap that still exists between the 1862 and 1890 land grant universities created under the Morrill Acts.
Fair Funding is an organization committed to ensuring compliance with the Morrill Act of 1890. The organization seeks to raise awareness of the Morrill Act that requires equitable funding, promotes compliance by states covered by the Morrill Act, build collaborative partnerships with states, and support judicial intervention if necessary to ensure compliance of the Act’s funding provisions.
Fair Funding is organization that is committed to ensuring compliance with the Morrill Act of 1890. The organization seeks to raise awareness of the Morrill Act which requires states to provide equitable funding to land-grant institutions serving Black student promote compliance by states covered by the Morrill Act, build collaborative partnerships with states, and support judicial intervention if necessary. Our work ensures that this historic commitment to fairness and opportunity is not forgotten, overlooked, or ignored.
The Morrill Act
The Morrill Act of 1890 was landmark legislation created in response to the strict Jim Crow laws that denied Black students access to the land grant universities that had been established earlier under the first Morrill Act of 1862. To remedy this injustice, Congress enacted the second Morrill Act in 1890, requiring states that accepted federal land grant funds to take one of two actions: either integrate their existing universities or establish separate institutions of higher learning for Black students. Most southern states chose segregation, creating new colleges for African Americans rather than opening their doors to integration.
The first Morrill Act of 1862 provided land to states to establish colleges focused on agriculture, engineering, military science, and the liberal arts. These institutions, known as land-grant universities.
The second Morrill Act was passed in 1890 and carried a critical mandate. States were obligated to fund these newly established Black land grant institutions on an equitable basis with their white counterparts. Federal support was conditional in that the funds had to be distributed equitably, including a dollar-for-dollar match by the states to ensure fair distribution of resources. In principle, this requirement was meant to guarantee parity in opportunity, facilities, and funding.
In practice, however, the second Morrill Act relied on voluntary compliance, and lacked enforcement mechanisms or penalties for violation. This loophole enabled states to chronically underfund the 1890 institutions for more than a century. As a result, decade after decade, funding allocations for historically Black land grant universities have fallen short in funding and have endured persistent disparities in resources, research capacity, and student support compared to their 1862 counterparts. The legacy of inequitable funding continues to shape higher education today, underscoring the urgent need for accountability and reform.
How To Get Involved
Ensuring fair funding in higher education is more than a legal requirement, it is a moral imperative. Closing the gap in funding is not the work of institutions alone, but a shared responsibility we all carry. Together, we can honor the law, uphold justice, and secure a fair future for every student.
When discussing this issue, here are some points for you to discuss:
-
The Morrill Act of 1862 – recognized the importance of providing higher education in agriculture and technology to students across the nation
-
The Morrill Act of 1890 – expanded the enslaved people and Black students in Confederate educational opportunities to include formerly states, mandating access to higher education. States receiving federal land-grant funds were required either to integrate their universities orestablish separate institutions for Black students. States must fund 1890 institutions (HBCUs) in an equitable manner.
-
Transformative Impact –The 1890 Act ranks 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, ensuring not alongside the Emancipation Proclamation and the just freedom, but education and opportunity.
-
Separate but Promised Equal – Southern states that universities for Black students, and to fund them opposed integration were required to create fairly and equitably. States receiving federal land grant funds were required either to integrate their universities or establish separate institutions for Black students.
-
Unfinished Business – more than 135 years later most of the 1890 institutions still face funding gaps the promise of equity has not yet been fulfilled compared to their 1862 counterparts – proof that the promise of equity has not yet been fulfilled
-
The new movement in civil rights – Today’s fight for fair funding is the next great civil rights movement. This justice in education will ensure that HBCUs have equitable funding and will be the greatest name changer for Black students since the Morrill Act was signed into law.
MEET OUR FOUNDER
Dr. Glenda Glover is recognized as one of the nation’s most consequential voices for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), a visionary leader whose tenure as President of Tennessee State University reshaped the landscape of higher education. As the first woman to lead the institution, she guided TSU through a period of significant growth, academic advancement, and rising national prominence — building a legacy defined by resilience, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to student success.
Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Glover has broken barriers and blazed trails, championing equity, access, and opportunity for students across the nation. Her leadership has helped elevate HBCUs to their rightful place in the national dialogue — not as institutions seeking validation, but as indispensable pillars of American progress. Her voice continues to shape the future of higher education, ensuring that HBCUs receive the recognition they deserve and the resources they require to thrive for generations to come.
Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover
President & CEO of Fair Funding