Newspaper Page Text
Black College Day 1980 consisted of marching bands and campus queens. This year’s Black College Day will concentrate on legislative battles as opposed to the
of last year.
Page 6 Spelman Spotlight September 1981
BLACK COLLEGE Dffi) '8I
To Be Young, Gifted And Black
By Bill Rouselle Public Information Officer THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine
With the beginning of the
1981-82 school year, we will
examine the current status of
Blacks in higher education in this
month's column. While the
survival of Black colleges
remains the most vital issue
confronting Black students, the
Reagan budget cuts in education
could have a more long range
and devastating impact on
education opportunities for
Black students.
According to the Commerce
Department's Census Bureau,
about one million Blacks were
enrolled in college October,
1980. While the one million Black
college students figure is nearly
doubled the 1970 Black student
population (522,000), it is no
where near the proportionate
number of Black college-age
young people in the U.S. popula
tion. Census figures indicate that
Blacks comprise 11.5 percent of
the nation’s population and 14
percent of the country’s college-
age population of 18-to-24 year
olds. However, only 12 percent
of college-age Blacks attend
college. In 1976, Black students
accounted for only 9.3 percent of
the total higher education
enrollment. In 1980, that percen
tage was down to 8.8 percent of
the 11.4 million total college
enrollment!
These figures indicate a
percentage decrease in Blacks
attending college. It is yet im
possible to concretely determine
the impact of various desegrega
tion efforts on this decline, but
the figures do indicate that more
and more Black college students
are enrolling at Black college
campuses while the overall
enrollment percentages con
tinue to decline. One can only
assume that the decrease is
coming from a decline in Black
enrollment in white institutions
and an increasing white student
enrollment on Black college
campuses both of which could
be linked to desegregation ef
forts.
The Reagan administration
appears to have a commitment
toward increasing money
available to Black institutions
(i.e., Title III monies, the second
largest source of funds to Black
colleges, is proposed to receive a
9.9 million dollar increase in the
1982 budget, one of the few
increases in the Reagan educa
tion budget). The Republican
administration is also taking a
public position in support of the
continued existence of Black
colleges. There have been recent
settlements in desegregation
cases in North Carolina, South
Carolina, and movement toward
a settlement in the critical
Louisiana case which prompted
the initial Adams vs Califano suit
that laid the basis for massive
desegregation efforts during the
decade of the 70's. While these
settlements seem to soothe some
fears about mergers and destruc
tion of Black colleges in those
states, Reagan’s policy of shifting
responsibility for social and
educational programming to the
states (federalism) could make
state governors, legislatures and
boards of higher education “the
overseers of a new plantation
system" according to Tony
Brown in an article which
appears in the August/
September, 1981 issue of THE
BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine.
Tony Brown has therefore
issued a call for organizing on a
state by state basis in 15 states in
1981 to mark Black college
survival efforts. Plans are un
derway for demonstrations,
marches and organizing efforts
in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Texas and Virginia directed at
state office holders to gather
support for increased funding
and resources to assure the
practical survival of Black univer
sities. Events are scheduled in
those states for September 28th
(Black College Day '81).
Meanwhile, the Reagan
budget cuts in other education
program areas could have a
more devastating impact on
Black educational opportunities.
According to the Chronicle of
Higher Education, "a key ele
ment in the Reagan budget plan
is a set of proposals to revamp
student-assistance programs for
which middle and upper income
students have been eligible since
1978. Under existing law, families
earning less than $25,000 a year
are required to contribute up to
14 percent of their disposable
income. The Reagan plan would
require them to contribute 20
percent of their income to
education costs, and wealthier
families may be asked to pay
even more.
“The Administration also
called for an end to present
federal policy of backing loans to
students, regardless of their
families’ income. The loan-
reform plan would reduce
federal subsidies even for the
neediest students, by ending the
federal policy of paying the
interest on loans while
borrowers are still in college. To
cut costs in the new guaranteed-
loan program for parents, Presi
dent Reagan proposed in
creasing the interest charged
from 9 percent to market rate
interest (currently over 20 per
cent).
"Yet, another source of
federal aid to college students
would be cut off entirely, under
an Administration proposal to
eliminate Social Security
payments to students. President
Reagan recommended that no
new beneficiaries be allowed to
enter the program after August,
1981, and that payments to the
800,000 students already receiv
ing benefits be reduced by 25
percent a year until recipients
reach the age of 22."
The impact of these "reforms”
in student assistance programs
on educational opportunities for
Black students will be watched
closely. While many surmise that
Black students will continue to
receive substantial assistance
since they are generally from low
income families, the actual im
plementation of these reforms
could mean that many needy
students will not get grants and
even more will not be able to
secure loans with market interest
notes ranging in the 20 percent
category.