Statement: Trump signs Future Act to restore funding to HBCUs and FAFSA applicaiton
On Thursday, December 19, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law the bi-partisan Future Act that secures permanent funding for HBCUs and similar institutions: H.R. 5363, the "Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act or the FUTURE Act," which makes permanent $255 million in mandatory funding for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs); enable disclosure of tax return information for the administration of Federal student financial aid programs; and increase funding for the Federal Pell Grant program. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund, thanked Trump and the thousands of advocates who lobbied Congress to support the bill. Passage of the bill was a joint effort between legislators and the community. “We enlisted more than 20,000 supporters to write and call their members of Congress,” Lomax said. “This activated army of advocates became t...