Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / HBCUs Are Hitting R1 — Here's Why It's Huge
Transcript
- Malcolm: he has secured nearly a hundred million dollars in federal funding for HBCU STEM programs. this is a 97.1 million dollar award and it will support 10 HBCU STEM programs through the Department Department of Defense. and since beginning his full Senate term in 2022, he's actually secured more than 17 billion dollars for campuses across the country. And nearly $275 million for HBCUs in Georgia. he's a proud graduate of Morehouse College. and so yeah, like I said, like this I think is like really, like I said, the the the conversation about HBCUs being underfunded. And like I said, Thomas and I know this well more than well enough. Like I said, we come from the most underfunded HBCU in the nation, but we still manage to be the number one producer of black engineers in the country. So like that, like kind of operating under that without having everything that we're supposed to is like nothing new to ANT or I think to any of the HBCUs on this list. But for a full list of the HBCUs receiving the federal grant, so Clark Atlanta University is getting nine point seven million. Delaware State is getting nine point nine million. University of District of Columbia is getting nine point nine million. Florida AM sorry excuse me FAMU is getting 10 million. Morgan State University, 10 million, Jackson State University 7.5 million, Fayetteville State University, 9.9 million. North Carolina ANT, 10 million, Prairie Review AM, 9.8 million, and then Texas Southern, 9.9 million. This is like really, really, really, really awesome. I think, like I said, all this is, I think it's also like really cool that these are all kind of going towards STEM programs. So I said it's also like like a lot of these HBCUs and all the ones on the list, they are working towards R1 status, which means research one doctoral university, so very high research activity. And this is considered the highest tier of research in research in universities in the United States according to the Carnegie classification of institutions of higher education. so there are some criteria for R1 status to earn and maintain R1 designation. An institution must speak must meet sorry, specific empirical threshold each year. So research and development spending, you have to spend at least fifty million dollars annually on RD. Doctoral production, at least 70 research doctorates awarded annually. And then as far as like nationwide, I think there are only 187 institutions h holding the R1 classification nationwide. And so what that means for students and and for faculty, students, undergrads get get access to large scale laboratories or high tech equipment, more federal grant backed projects, which is what money like this kind of go towards. there's professors that have heavy heavier pressure to pace like, you know, academic papers, secure more extended grant I'm sorry, secure more external grant funding. and then it also attracts just top-tier researchers, large federal and private grants, and then obviously a level of global academic prestige. And so to get you guys an example of the type of schools that are R1, we're talking Harvard, MIT, Stanford, University of Michigan, UCLA. and so R2 universities represent the next tier down, and they require at least five million dollars in research spending and 20 doctorates. So there's a clear distinction between R1 and R2. And so, like all these HBCUs are on the race. to achieve that status. I believe currently the only R1 is Howard right now. they're the only they're the only they're the only R1 HBCU and the very first as well. Cause I think they achieved the milestone with over 85 million in annual research expenditures and then 96 doctoral degrees awarded. So yeah, like I said, there's a there's an entire coalition I think supported by Grant. from a grant from Harvard University's Legacy of Slavery Initiative to help more HBCUs reach this the same status. So, I think this is really really cool, really great on on Warnock's part. And I think like like any time HBCUs get the the credit, the funding, the recognition that they rightfully deserve, I think it's I think it's awesome.