Why the Biden administration says state shortchanged South Carolina State by $470 million

The Biden administration sent a letter to Gov. Henry McMaster last month saying South Carolina had underfunded South Carolina State University by more than $469 million over the last 30 years.

The Education Department looked at how much South Carolina had spent per student at its two land-grant universities, Clemson University and South Carolina State University, from 1987 to 2020.

Clemson University was funded by the 1862 Morrill Act, which gave land to states they could sell to establish colleges that taught agriculture and the “mechanical arts.” These schools are called “land-grant universities.”

In 1890, a second Morrill Act gave states a choice: either allow Black students to attend their land-grant schools or accept federal money to start a separate Black land-grant school. Southern states chose to create separate schools. South Carolina State University was the result of the 1890 law.

What do states owe: What do states owe land-grant universities?

States that created separate schools for Black students were required to provide them with the same level of funding as the white schools. Almost no states met this requirement.

Land-grant universities also receive grants from the Agriculture Department for research and extension services. States are supposed to match those federal grants one-to-one. States regularly fail to provide Black land-grant schools with those matching funds.

The Education Department calculated the difference in funding using data the schools themselves submitted to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Here is a table of how much money South Carolina provided to Clemson and South Carolina State annually between 1987 and 2020.

Todd A. Price is a regional reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at taprice@gannett.com.