Hbcu Propelling Agency Relationships Towards A New Era of Results for Students Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

I rise in support of S. 461, as amended, the HBCU PARTNERS Act.

Since their inception, HBCUs have been engines of social mobility and a cornerstone of secondary education for underserved students, particularly Black students from low-income backgrounds.

Today, HBCUs account for no more than 3 percent of all colleges and universities in the country, yet these institutions, as we have heard, produce nearly 20 percent of all Black undergraduates, half of all Black professionals, and one-third of all Black STEM degree earners.

Despite this outsized role in expanding access to higher education, HBCUs continue to be underresourced compared to other institutions of higher learning.

This historic lack of support is being further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as HBCUs disproportionately suffer from dramatically lower enrollment and State funding.

Mr. Speaker, there is simply no better time to support these critical institutions than by passing this legislation before us today.

The HBCUs PARTNERS Act would ensure that our Federal agencies actively work with HBCUs to advance their critical mission of opening the door to higher education for students across the country.

This bipartisan bill demonstrates that regardless of political affiliation, we can all agree that during this dark hour in our higher education system, our Nation's HBCUs are an investment worth making.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams), the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker), and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), and the entire bipartisan HBCU Caucus for their work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

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