Congressman Rich McCormick Introduces the HBCU Empowerment and Reform Act

WASHINGTON - Last week, Congressman Rich McCormick (GA-07) introduced the HBCU Empowerment and Reform Act. The bill updates outdated federal definitions to ensure fairness for students at historically underserved institutions.

Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, schools are classified as either Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). While PBIs serve the majority of African American student populations, many are excluded from HBCU designation and its associated resources simply because they were founded after an arbitrary 1964 cutoff.

The HBCU Empowerment and Reform Act remedies this by setting a clear eligibility date of November 8, 1965, when the Higher Education Act was signed into law. This change would allow qualifying PBIs that narrowly missed the original cutoff to receive HBCU status and better support their students.

“As a former student body president of Morehouse School of Medicine, I am honored to introduce this transformative piece of legislation. Updating outdated federal definitions to ensure fairness for students at historically underserved institutions has been a priority of mine since coming to Congress. I look forward to seeing stronger, more support for their students,”said Congressman McCormick.

Congressman McCormick’s Floor Speech on his HBCU Empowerment & Reform Act can be found here.