Separate and unequal: State of Florida leaves FAMU, its only public HBCU, to rise on its own

U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) recognized FAMU as the No. 1 public HBCU in the country for the third year in a row. FAMU ranked No. 7 among all HBCUs in USNWR’s HBCU rankings, and No. 104 among all public universities, and tied for No. 202 among all national universities both public and private.

Despite the university's stellar showing year-after-year in the USNWR rankings, FAMU will not receive any points for out-performing its public HBCU peers on the Florida’s State University System’s performance funding metric.  Nor will the university receive any additional state funding to improve its standing among all HBCUs, public or private.

In contrast, Florida’s top two ranked public universities, its "flagships" – University of Florida No. 5  (up from No. 14 in 2017) and Florida State University ranked at No. 19 (up from No. 43 in 2016) – have received a combined $61.9 million in state preeminence funds.   
 
Both UF and FSU have used the additional funding to hire top faculty to attract additional research dollars, lower faculty course loads, improve salaries to retain top faculty, improve its academic programs, and support student success. 
 
Even USF, which this year rose to No. 46, among public universities received an  additional $19.8 million in state preeminence funding since 2017, and as a result has risen 48 spots over the past decade.  
 
Add in the additional funding that these schools got in state performance funding, over the past decade these schools have made out like bandits.
 
Had Florida incentivized, FAMU, the states only public HBCU just a little bit over the past decade the university could have likely out-performed some of its private HBCU peers like Tuskegee (No. 6), Morehouse (No. 5), and Hampton (No. 4).
 
For now, as FAMU sets its sights on breaking into the top 100 of the nation’s public universities in the USNWR annual rankings it will have to push ahead on its own, without the support, or backing, of the state of Florida.

Note:  this story first appeared on this website on September 22, 2021.