OPINION: New college board formula spells disaster for HBCUs

By Ivory Phillips

JA Contributing Editor

During its June 2026 meeting, the college board adopted a new funding formula, with praises for what it will do for the state’s colleges and universities going forward. There was no real opposition to the proposal as it was presented to the body. 

One would do well to remember, however, that for years the college board declined to print or even fully explain its formulae to critics. It may happen in this case. 

In its press release on the funding formula was an admission by college board member Charlie Stephenson. He chairs the Finance and Budget Committee and reportedly said: “Mississippi’s public universities have shifted from being primarily state supported to primarily tuition supported.” This increasing tuition burden, which many have noticed, adversely affects students from the laboring class, most markedly at the HBCUs. It is an attack on access to a college education. 

The press release provided after the meeting was styled, “IHL Board of Trustees Accepts Framework of Performance Funding Formula.” That styling, however, glosses over or obscures the fact that the college board did not just “accept” some proposals or ideas offered by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. The new proposal surfaced several months ago. IHL commissioned the study by that Center, knowing full-well what it wanted from such a study and the college board would “adopt,” not passively accept the proposal.

The IHL establishment has been “smarting” since Black plaintiffs in 1976 had the audacity to file suit over the disparate funding of the state’s HBCUs. Even though the plaintiffs received far less than justice, when that case, Ayers vs. Waller was settled, periodic efforts had been undertaken to “protect” the funding of the larger predominately white institutions, including classifying USM, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State as comprehensive universities, entitling them to more generous funding.

The new, revised funding formula will enable the same three institutions – USM, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State – to even more rapidly distance themselves from the HBCUs and other smaller institutions. This will be the case because the new formula has two parts: foundational funding and performance funding. 

Foundational funding reportedly will be “a data-driven calculation of what each institution needs to keep its doors open, maintain its facilities, deliver academic programs, and support students facing the greatest barriers to completion.” Performance funding supposedly will provide new state dollars based upon demonstrated improvements in such areas as “degree completion, student progression, and workforce outcomes, calibrated differently for research and comprehensive institutions.”

History has shown differences in things like faculty salaries, student aid packages, and the sizes, numbers, and ages of facilities – the so-called data driven-factors – have always been funded differently at the HBCUs and the PWIs. The HBCUs have had to make-do with less money – IHL seems to have decided it takes more to keep a PWI up and running than it does an HBCU. 

This means under the new foundational formula, as had been the case with the old formula, one is likely to see more money allocated for USM, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State. Translated, it means the rich schools will get richer while the poor ones get poorer, and that the larger schools will become even more modern looking and attractive. That is just on the foundational side of the budget. 

On the performance side of the formula, things are likely to get even worse. For example, many students attending Mississippi Valley State University come from the kind of economic circumstances wherein they must periodically postpone their studies to work and complete their programs over a longer period of time. This means MVSU’s graduation rate lags behind that of Ole Miss, where more economically-endowed students attend. This places MVSU at a budgetary disadvantage. Similarly, Alcorn will be penalized under the new formula because after graduation its students are often unable to secure the same kind of employment as do those from Mississippi State. Thirdly, USM, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State have awarded more degrees each year because they have more students than the others. 

In short, most if not all, performance measures under the new formula are based upon systemic racism and are generally cumulative in impact. That is going to be disadvantageous for the HBCUs and other smaller schools, and will widen the gap more each year.

The IHL press release of June 18th therefore documents the two-pronged assault on HBCUs and the students attending them. The assaults do not just represent but are a part of the national strategy unfolding in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory and the implementation of Project 2025. 

While Black parents, alumni, community organizers, and political leaders are and for a long time have been aware of these truths, it is sorely time for them to become disturbed enough to act on the IHL initiative. 

In the case of the IHL funding formula being adopted, systematic political education, massive voter turn-outs in order to replace the bad actors, filing relevant lawsuits, public protests, and other forms of expressed disapproval are in order. 

Racially disparate funding and racially discriminatory governance is what the Ayers vs. Waller case was all about. In that case, too many plaintiffs fell by the wayside before the final victory was achieved. Since the matter is before us again, we need to take full advantage of whatever opportunities are available and to create them where they may not seem to exist. A significant part of the Black future depends upon it.