Sen. Raphael Warnock Secures $97.1 Million in Federal Funding for HBCU STEM Programs

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock has announced $97.1 million in federal funding for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs across 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The Department of Defense grants are designed to expand research infrastructure, enhance technical training, and build a pipeline for the next generation of Black scientists, engineers, and innovators.

For Warnock, a Morehouse College alumnus who has secured over $17 billion for HBCUs nationwide during his tenure, the investment goes beyond infrastructure. It is an intentional move to ensure Black scholars have the resources to lead groundbreaking research.

“HBCUs have long been incubators for innovation, producing world-class scientists and engineers despite historically receiving a fraction of federal research dollars,” Warnock said.

While HBCUs account for just 3% of four-year nonprofit colleges in the United States, their impact on the scientific community is significant. Twenty-eight percent of all Black graduates with STEM degrees in the U.S. earn them at HBCUs. Nearly 50% of all Black engineers in the country graduate from an HBCU, and approximately 70% of Black doctors and dentists complete their undergraduate studies at one.

Despite that track record, HBCUs have historically faced severe systemic underfunding, often receiving less than 1% of federal research grants. The new $97.1 million allocation provides capital to modernize laboratory facilities, fund faculty-led research, and support undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

Ten institutions across the country were awarded grants under the Department of Defense funding package. Florida A&M University and Morgan State University each received $10 million, as did North Carolina A&T State University. Delaware State University was awarded $9,998,873; Texas Southern University, $9,997,847; University of the District of Columbia, $9,982,865; Fayetteville State University, $9,905,607; Prairie View A&M University, $9,858,194; Clark Atlanta University, $9,784,632; and Jackson State University, $7,573,527.

HBCU alumni have long shaped scientific discovery, from NASA astronaut Dr. Ronald McNair, a North Carolina A&T graduate, to MIT nuclear engineering trailblazer Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, who attended FAMU. The federal investment builds on that legacy by directing resources to the institutions that have consistently produced the country’s leading Black scientists and engineers.