Feds press for Tennessee committee on $2.1B underfunding of HBCU

The U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture again urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to address $2.1 billion in state underfunding to Tennessee State University over the course of 30 years.

The figure, first revealed by the departments in a September 2023 letter to Lee, has driven heated discussions among state and university leaders, along with advocates for the historically Black, public, land-grant institution in Nashville. A new letter, sent Tuesday and obtained by The Tennessean, comes as TSU is under new leadership after a year of upheaval and deep financial struggles. Dwayne Tucker, a longtime business and education leader who previously sat on the TSU board, was named as TSU’s interim president in December and said he plans to stabilize the university’s finances, while also addressing the historic underfunding.

The letter said the unbalanced funding “puts the institution in jeopardy during times of economic uncertainty” and does not match the same level of state funding for the University of Tennessee, the state’s other land-grant institution.

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“As you explore ways to address the funding imbalance, we strongly recommend establishing a state-level bipartisan joint legislative committee to gather data and conduct historical budget analysis of how the state has allocated funds,” part of the letter read.

A spokesperson for Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday afternoon.

Land-grant universities, established under the Morrill Act of 1862, gave federal land to states which they could sell to fund universities with an emphasis in agriculture and mechanical arts. Many of those schools, including UT, did not initially admit Black students. A second Morrill Act in 1890 required states to either end racial discrimination at their land-grant schools or create separate schools for Black students. That’s how Tennessee State University was established.

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The grants obligate Tennessee to give a one-to-one match to both UT and TSU. Tennessee was one of 16 land-grant HBCUs across the United States to receive letters from the departments in 2023. TSU topped the list of underfunding totals. Since then, federal officials hosted a webinar for governors, state leaders and lawmakers to discuss how they calculated the underfunding in an effort to address imbalances. A federal dashboard for grant funding was also launched to increase access to key data for states and researchers.

In the letter sent Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack said it’s up to Lee to do all he can to build a strong workforce. Tennessee’s state legislature is due back on Jan. 14 for its regular session.

“Strong institutions of higher education support this goal through supporting research that fosters innovation that can lead to new discoveries and technologies that save lives, develop business and sustain regions,” the letter stated. “We hope that we can be a thought partner with you as you consider ways to address the unbalanced funding.”