Number: RL34435
Title: Federal Research and Development Funding at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Authors: Christine M. Matthews, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: An August 2008 report of the NSF reveals that for the academic year 2006, approximately 33.0% of the black science and engineering doctorate recipients had earned their bachelor degrees at an HBCU. While HBCUs have played an important role in providing the undergraduate preparation for many of those black students entering highly specialized science and engineering disciplines, forecasts indicate that their efforts at attracting, retaining, preparing, and graduating students in the sciences and engineering may need to be expanded in order to respond to changing demographics. A September 2006 report of the Department of Education (ED) states that between 2004 and 2015, enrollment in degree-granting institutions is projected to increase 27% for black, non-Hispanic students, 42% for Hispanic students, 30% for Native American/Alaskan Natives, 28% for Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 6% for white, non-Hispanic students. These groups, the "new majority," on which the economy must increasingly rely, have traditionally been underrepresented in the sciences compared to their fraction of the total population.
Pages: 21
Date: September 26, 2008