A new research brief reveals that more than half a million students have been lost from higher education institutions across the Southern United States over the past decade, driven in large part by dramatic cuts to federal Pell Grant funding that disproportionately affect Black students and low-income families.
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"The Widening College Access Gap" documents a sharp decline in Black student enrollment across public institutions in the region, with researchers linking the enrollment losses directly to inconsistent federal funding and state budget cuts.
"As president at Albany State University, I saw Pell cuts translate directly into enrollment losses," said Dr. Art Dunning, former president of the Georgia institution. "This is critical research that demands attention."
The brief marks the first in a series of research publications examining higher education opportunity in the South. Raymond C. Pierce, president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, said the organization partnered with the Education Policy Center because of "their deep knowledge of postsecondary education issues facing the South and our nation."
Researchers are calling on federal policymakers to make Pell Grant funding mandatory rather than subject to annual appropriations, and urging states to better align financial aid with student needs to close what the report characterizes as a widening access gap.
The collaboration will produce four additional briefs and a culminating report examining state funding for public higher education, shortages of STEM graduates of color, recruitment and retention of faculty of color, and historical enrollment trends across Southern states since 1970.
