Introduction

With the chronic social injustices as a backdrop to our current educational system, advancing an understanding of higher education’s landscape through the lens of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) proves essential toward identifying next steps that can ensure a future of greater racial justice in our nation. Over 50% of students enrolled at MSIs receive Pell Grants, compared with only 31% of all college students. Students at MSIs are also more likely than those attending majority institutions to have lower levels of academic preparation for college and are more apt to come from stressful backgrounds and high-poverty areas. Though current federal appropriations for Minority Serving Institutions emerged from amendments introduced across multiple ratifications of the 1965 Higher Education Act (HEA), some of these institutions’ founding precedes the HEA by over a century. Federal funding for MSIs can be traced back to the Higher Education Act of 1965, when HBCUs received mandatory and discretionary funding.