Representative Rich McCormick (R-GA07) recently introduced the HBCU Empowerment and Reform Act, a bill that updates outdated federal definitions to ensure fairness for students at historically underserved institutions.
While writing the bill, Rep. McCormick drew on his experience as a former student of the historically black Morehouse College. It is likely a passion project for the Georgia lawmaker as he looks to give back to institutions that guided him in the past.
“As a former student body president of Morehouse School of Medicine, I am honored to introduce this transformative piece of legislation,” Rep McCormick said in a statement. “Updating outdated federal definitions to ensure fairness for students at historically underserved institutions has been a priority of mine since coming to Congress. I look forward to seeing stronger, more support for their students.”
The Bill and Its Context
Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, schools are classified as either Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs).
While PBIs serve the majority of African American student populations, many are excluded from HBCU designation and its associated resources simply because they were founded after an arbitrary cutoff in 1964.
The HBCU Empowerment and Reform Act remedies this by setting a clear eligibility date of November 8, 1965, when the Higher Education Act was signed into law. This change would allow qualifying PBIs that narrowly missed the original cutoff to receive HBCU status.
Rep. McCormick spoke on the House floor when introducing this bill and discussed the benefits of his HBCU experiences. He related this initiative to the invention of the Republican Party itself.
To him, the Party has always been positioned to assist the underserved, and his bill intends to do just that.
He also clarified that the bill is intended to correct a bureaucratic mistake by directly addressing the language of the law.
Opportunity should never be limited by outdated policy. As a proud graduate of Morehouse School of Medicine, I spoke in support of my legislation to update federal definitions and ensure fairness for students at HBCUs and other historically underserved institutions. We must…
— Congressman Rich McCormick, MBA MD (@RepMcCormick) March 5, 2026
