President Donald Trump signed today a bipartisan amendment to a bill that would permanently re-authorize millions of dollars in federal funding to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) for a decade.
The bipartisan proposal announced Dec. 3 by the Senate education committee and passed by the House a week later, would amend The FUTURE Act to restore a 10-year mandatory extension of $255 million in annual funding to HBCUs and MSIs, including $850 million specifically for HBCUs. It would also simplify the paperwork for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by cutting off more than 20 questions from the application form, and streamline income-driven repayment for nearly 8 million borrowers.
