If all goes according to plan, Howard University will soon hold Research-1 (R-1) status, the sole HBCU to obtain this classification.
The labeling is expected to take place this spring. With this distinction, Howard could receive more research grants and appeal to more esteemed professors.
“For HBCUs, in the research that we do, there’s a stated and higher commitment to historically disenfranchised communities,” Bruce Jones, senior vice president for research at Howard, told the Chronicle of Higher Education. “Elevating HBCUs to [R1] status opens the door for them to acquire more resources and do more things in terms of meeting the community mission.”
The HBCU will obtain this status through the new Carnegie Classification requirements. The updates will lessen the number of doctoral productions needed to reach this tier. Now, schools at R-1 status must only award 70 doctoral degrees annually and spend $50 million on research. Howard has exceeded both requirements.
The university once had R-1 status but lost it in 2005 following heightened requirements. Now, with the American Council on Education simplifying the process, the HBCU can regain the accolade.
However, the previous regulations severely limited HBCUs from awarding graduate degrees to its diverse students, most of whom identified as Black.
Systemic racism is a main cause for many HBCUs lacking the foundation to achieve this status. During Jim Crow, many state’s “separate but equal” policies actually favored predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Through this, states allocated more government funding to build out PWI graduate programs. Moreover, states allowed PWIs to replicate programs developed by HBCUs.
“It’s just one of the ways that HBCUs, even though they’re fighting and they’re doing all of the work that they can in order to build out these research programs, are still being discriminated against by states,” Adam Harris, author of The State Must Provide, told the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Given this, Howard hopes to maintain its status and pave the way for other HBCUs to follow suit.
“We’re doing things now to make sure we stay there,” said Jones, “and the only way to do that is really invest and keep your research infrastructure moving forward, to continue to hire top-notch faculty, continue to emphasize research with our students, continue to form partnerships with our HBCUs.”
Howard will also lead an HBCU consortium through its University Affiliated Research Center, as reported by The Hilltop, the college’s newspaper. The $90 million venture will develop tactical autonomy research for the Air Force.
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