Education: Hard Times at Black Colleges

Big debts and reduced aid mean fiscal trouble for one of the best

When Fisk University opened its doors, in a Union Army barracks in Nashville in 1866, it was dedicated to "the education and training of young men and women, irrespective of color." But Tennessee's segregation laws ensured that whites went to other colleges, leaving Fisk with little financial support for its student body of freed slaves. Over the years, the money problems have hardly become easier: Fisk's present endowment is a mere $3.1 million, in contrast with about $250 million for its...

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