NAFEO chief seeks more funding - Washington Update - National Association for Equal Opportunity in Education - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 14, 2002 by Charles Dervarics

President Bush's 2003 budget, with few education increases, is a "disturbing" reversal of recent bipartisan efforts in Congress to increase federal spending, a Black college leader told Congress in February.

Level funding for most student aid programs plus proposed cuts for minority-specific programs in health and science "can be viewed as nothing less than an assault on the homeland security the president has vowed to protect," said Dr. Frederick Humphries, president and chief executive officer of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Education (NAFEO).

Testifying before a House of Representatives subcommittee last month, Humphries also asked Congress to improve on the president's proposed 3 percent funding increase for the Education Department's HBCU programs.

He recommended increasing the main Title III Part B HBCU program from $206 million to $260 million, so that each participating college would be assured of at least a $1 million grant. This increase also could better support faculty development, student retention, facilities and endowments, he said. By comparison, the White House has asked for only a $7 million increase for the program.

Humphries also proposed a $16 million increase for HBCU graduate assistance, to $65 million next year. The president's budget has only a $1.8 million gain. A larger increase, he said, would "allow HBCUs to address the serious issue of the undersupply of African American Ph.D.s in the sciences and engineering fields" as well as in professional areas such as law and medicine.

In addition to the small HBCU increases, the president's budget would maintain a $4,000 Pell Grant and freeze funding for college work-study and supplemental grants to needy students. Humphries endorsed recommendations of other national higher education groups in asking Congress for a $500 Pell Grant increase as well as gains for supplemental grants, work-study and TRIO.