After Lapse, Senate Renews Funding for Minority-Serving Institutions of Higher Education

New Jersey home to 13 minority-serving institutions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate today reauthorized funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other minority serving institutions (MSIs) by passing the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act, a bill cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez. Booker, whose parents both attended HBCUs, and Menendez, who attended one of New Jersey’s HSIs, had urged Senate leadership to restore funding after it expired September 30.

“After allowing this funding to expire in September, today, the Senate has rightfully acted to restore a vital lifeline to our nation’s HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, and MSIs,” Sen. Booker said. “These institutions give their students a uniquely tailored educational experience that has proven life changing. I am standing here today, able to champion legislation like this, because of the education my parents received at HBCUs. My father was able to lift himself out of poverty and into the middle class after attending North Carolina Central University. This changed the course of history for my family and I am thrilled that today’s students will have that same opportunity at one of the thirteen MSIs in New Jersey or the hundreds across the country.”

“The critical funding for Hispanic Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions should have never lapsed. Today we’re taking an important step towards not only restoring this funding, but making it permanent,” Sen. Menendez said. “As the proud product of what is now recognized as one of New Jersey’s HSIs, I understand the importance of these institutions for the overall success of minority communities and the impact they have in bringing up the next generation of leaders.”

New Jersey is home to the following 13 Hispanic-serving institutions and Predominantly Black Institutions, which received $47 million in federal funding last fiscal year:

• Bergen Community College
• Bloomfield College
• Essex County College
• Fairleigh Dickinson University
• Felician University
• Hudson County Community College
• Middlesex County College
• Montclair State University
• New Jersey City University
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark Campus
• Saint Peter’s University
• Union County College
• William Paterson University

In addition to the FUTURE Act, Booker, a member of the bicameral, bipartisan HBCU Caucus is also the author of the bipartisan HBCU Capital Financing Improvement Act, which would make technical changes to a financing program that helps HBCUs access capital for renovation and construction projects on campus. The technical changes would allow more HBCUs to access the program. Booker is also an original cosponsor of legislation to reauthorize the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation program.

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