More funding for minority-serving institutions
May 8th, 2005From the Chronicle of Higher Education …
The Science Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would create a $250 million grant program in the Department of Commerce to support technology programs at minority-serving institutions. Budgets at many historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges cannot support up-to-date technologies. Supporters argue that the bill would provide much-needed funding to institutions that train growing numbers of high-tech workers, specifically from underrepresented groups. Similar bills have been passed in previous sessions of Congress, but none has made its way to the president's desk for signing. Even if the current bill, which has not been introduced in the Senate, is approved
by both houses and signed by the president, it remains unclear whether the federal government would allocate funds for the program, given the current budget deficit.
