On September 18th, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack sent a letter to Oklahoma state Governor Kevin Stitt, identifying a $418 million disparity in funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and its non-HBCU land-grant peers in the state of Oklahoma over the last 30 years alone. In the letter it stated:
“Given the large amount of state funding that is owed to Langston University, it would be ambitious to address the funding disparity over the course of several years in the state budget… if an ambitious timetable is not a possibility, we suggest a combination of a substantial state allocation toward the 1890 deficit combined with a forward-looking budget commitment for a two-to-one match of federal land-grant funding for these institutions in order to bring parity to funding levels.”
This letter comes only a year after Stitt announced the state of Oklahoma state savings accounts had reached historic highs with $2.8 billion in savings accounts exceeding the governor’s savings target of $2.3 billion. Senate Appropriations Chair Roger Thompson explained that during economic stress tests, it was indicated that the state of Oklahoma needed seven to nine percent of overall state spending in savings to avoid major spending cuts or tax increases during a future economic downturn. This would equate to $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion that was Stitt’s original goal. That leaves an estimated $500 million left over in the savings budget that is not being directly allocated for state emergency spending.
Despite this surplus, Stitt has made it clear in statements he does not envision using any savings unless the state experiences an economic decline. This implies that the state savings budget will not be used in replenishing Langston’s under-funding issue, despite its record-breaking highs. Stitt stated in a recent interview, “It’s like in your own budget, you have a little nest egg that you set aside for emergencies and downturns, etc.”
Oklahoma state Representative Jason Lowe said that legislators at the state capitol have been in meetings with the fiscal team and legal department to find extra money in the budget. He has also begun efforts to reach out to the federal government and Stitt to find a compromise that will get Langston paid. According to Lowe, “We want to make sure Langston is fully funded.”
In the 2023 fiscal year, due to a federally mandated match, Langston University received an additional $1.8 million from Oklahoma, an increase of 20% over the previous fiscal year’s appropriations. The increase brought the state matching levels to an average of 68% for the Cooperative Extension and 72% matched for Evans-Allen Research. The state of Oklahoma has appropriated an additional $1.3 million toward the mandated match for the 2024 fiscal year. Ultimately, the state’s goal of a one-to-one match, much less the two-to-one match recommended by Cardona and Vilsack to make up for the $418 million deficit, could remain years away.
Tristan Dozier
Staff Writer
Tristan Dozier is a senior corrections major
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