Clinton promised $25B for HBCUs, Fla. gubernatorial candidates haven’t promised dollar amount for new spending on HBCUs

Back in 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took her GOP opponent Donald Trump to task for not having a plan to aid historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). She proposed $25 billion in new federal spending just for HBCUs.

“I believe it’s essential to support HBCUs, which graduate almost half of the black teachers in America and have helped millions of African Americans gain a foothold in the middle class,” Clinton wrote. “By contrast, Donald Trump has no plan to support HBCUs.”

“We’ll make a historic $25 billion investment across all HBCUs—public and private—so that each one has the funding to keep creating opportunities and providing more support services for underserved students,” Clinton added. “That includes expanding on-campus child care and creating more scholarships for students who are also parents to make it easier for them to obtain a degree.”

Florida has four HBCUs that would have benefited from that money: Florida A&M University, Bethune-Cookman University, Florida Memorial University, and Edward Waters College.

Today, the Democrats and Republicans in Florida are preparing to select their nominees for the 2018 Florida governor’s race. No candidate has proposed a dollar amount for new state spending for HBCUs. That includes the Democratic politicians who campaigned for Clinton last year.

There are three Tallahassee-based candidates seeking the governorship. They are Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam (Republican), former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham (Democrat), Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (Democrat). All three of those candidates have visited the FAMU campus in recent years to receive honors or engage in political campaigning.

The issues pages on the campaign websites for the three Tallahassee-based candidates all have statements about supporting education, but don’t state how much more state funding they will promise for the HBCUs in Florida.

At the time of this posting (October 9, 2017), Graham is the only Tallahassee-based candidate who has even mentioned HBCUs on her website’s list of campaign priorities.

“Gwen also knows that our economy is dependent on universities that turn out world class students,” the website states. “As governor, she will work to keep tuition low, fully fund need-based assistance programs, support Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and encourage more partnerships between the companies looking to hire Florida students, and the universities who will educate them.”

gwengraham.com/priority/education/

andrewgillum.com/issue/education/

adamputnam.com/issues/