July 21, 2016 To: The Honorable John King, Jr., United States Secretary of Education CC: The Honorable John Kline, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce The Honorable Bobby Scott, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce The Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee The Honorable Patty Murray, Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee For nearly 150 years, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have served as the bedrock of higher education for African Americans and other students of color across the United States. Not only have HBCUs provided exceptional academic opportunities for thousands of students, but they have also provided men and women of color the chance to compete in today’s demanding economy. Thousands of African Americans have graduated from HBCUs and gone on to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, small business owners, or taken other admirable routes that have in some way expanded upward mobility in communities across the country. Especially in times of increasing costs for higher education, HBCUs have strived to provide additional resources to help families send their children to college so they can work hard to obtain a degree. In fact, the benefits of enrollment for African American students at HBCUs are higher than for African American students who attend non-HBCU institutions. According to a Gallup Poll, 55 percent of black HBCU graduates have said they “strongly agreed” that their college or university prepared them for life outside of college, while only 30 percent of non-HBCU black graduates said the same of their respective universities. Even though only 10 percent of African American undergraduates enroll at HBCUs, 18 percent of African American college students actually graduate from HBCUs. According to the United Negro College Fund, 25 percent of those HBCU graduates leave school with bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Despite the advantageous effects HBCUs have on African American college graduation rates, they still face enormous financial drawbacks compared to nonHBCUs, and there is a greater cause for concern for the viability of HBCUs with the implementation of the Department of Education’s (ED) proposed “borrower defense to repayment regulation.” In fact, the proposed regulation language could undermine the financial viability of a number of academic institutions and could possibly bankrupt less-financially secured colleges and universities. The regulatory proposals submitted by the ED last March would amend current requirements for financial responsibility among student debts and exhibits broad language that would allow current or former students to file claims for loan forgiveness if they felt their institution made a misrepresentation of their respective school. This regulation could undermine financial viability and potentially put them out of business Should a disgruntled former or current student at an HBCU feel “misrepresented” by their institution by any means, the broad language outlined in the proposed ED rule could open the floodgates for frivolous lawsuits that will only adversely affect the greater HBCU student body. Though HBCUs provide excellent academic opportunities for their students, they do not have the monetary security non-HBCUs share. For example, top-rated Morehouse College has an endowment of around $130 million, whereas a top-rated non-HBCU such as Harvard University has an endowment of more than $36 billion. Accumulated student debt from around the country currently sits at over $1.2 trillion. This absolutely must be addressed to help relieve burdensome student debt; however, the language proposed under this new ED rule could potentially enable class action lawsuits that could bring permanent damage to HBCUs. The proposed rule also imposes additional significant burdens on HBCUs by requiring institutions to take out letters of credit, a provision which the United Negro College Fund described as concerning given the “potential negative impact of proposed changes to financial responsibility regulatory requirements on HBCUs and their ability to continue their historic education mission.” Though we support ED measures to address the problem of student debt that is not only placing financial burdens on college graduates but is also inhibiting those born under less fortunate circumstances from even considering higher education, this rule will only adversely affect the greater interests of students attending HCBUs. Rather than expanding the current rules in place regarding student misrepresentation, academic institutions should be required to better educate their students of their preexisting rights. We therefore urge the ED to extend the comment period for 60 days so that we further explore a more productive alternative to the current proposal. Sincerely, Andrea Harris, Trustee, Bennett College for Women Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Founder and President Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Dr. Ronald Johnson, President, Clark Atlanta University Dr. Julianne Malveaux, former President, Bennett College for Women Janice Mathis, Esq., President and CEO National Council of Negro Women Dr. Haywood Strickland, President, Wiley College Angela R. Sailor, former Deputy Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Education Dr. David Beckley, President, Rust College Dr. Jerrie Cobb Scott, former Professor, University of Memphis