Lawmakers slam pause of federal HBCU scholars program

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY

The 1890 National Scholars program supports students pursuing degrees in agriculture-related disciplines at land grant Black colleges, including North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

A short-lived pause of a federal program that supports students at historically Black colleges rankled their congressional allies.

U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, a Charlotte Democrat and senior member of the House Agriculture Committee and founding chair of the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, was pleased U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reversed course on Feb. 25 to re-open the 1890 National Scholars program and extend the application deadline to March 15. The program supports students from underserved and rural communities pursuing degrees in agriculture and related fields at the nation’s 19 land grant Black colleges.

“I'm pleased the Secretary has lifted the suspension of and reopened the application for the USDA 1890 National Scholars Program,” Adams said in a statement. “This program has been in place since 1992, and I hope we can work together to address the real challenges and real opportunities for our 1890s and our HBCUs."

The 1890s refers to the Second Morrill Act of 1890, which established HBCUs as land-grant colleges when Black students were blocked from the original land-grant schools created by the Morrill Act of 1862. Two HBCUs – North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro and South Carolina State University in Orangeburg – are land grant campuses.

The initiative, established in 1992 during the George H.W. Bush administration, provides tuition, room and board to students pursuing degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences or related fields. Eligible students must be U.S. citizens with a grade point average of 3.0 or better and demonstrate leadership and community service. More than $19 million was allocated to 94 students in 2024.

The Agriculture Department paused the 1890 Scholarship Program on Feb. 20, with a message on the program's website it was "pending further review." The suspension was part of a larger funding freeze by the Trump administration as a review of whether spending aligns with executive orders on issues like diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

"The Trump Administration’s decision to suspend the 1890 Scholars Program 'pending further review' is an outrageous disruption that undermines efforts to make higher education accessible for Black students and correct our nation's history of systemic racial discrimination within the land-grant system," CBC chair Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said.

A USDA spokesperson said that current scholarship recipients would be able to complete their studies, stating: "To be clear, every scholar — over 300 — regardless of matriculation date, was retained to finish their studies and complete their work with the Department." The spokesperson added that Secretary Brooke Rollins will review the scholarship program "to ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer resources."

Adams slammed the pause as endangering a valuable education program, and in turn, diversity in the nation’s agriculture infrastructure.

“It is infuriating that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended the 1890 Scholars Program ‘pending further review,’” she said. “This is a clear attack on an invaluable program that makes higher education accessible for everybody, and provides opportunities for students to work at USDA, especially in the critical fields of food safety, agriculture, and natural resources that Americans rely on every single day.

“This program is a correction to a long history of racial discrimination within the land-grant system, not an example of it.”

Comments