The Parent PLUS rule cut HBCU student numbers by 17,000 in one year

Evidence

Predictably, the new rule change devastated black colleges. Some lost as much as 20 percent of their student body. In the academic year of 2012–13, the United Negro College Fund reported that “the number of students attending HBCUs with Parent PLUS loans dropped by 45 percent, or more than 17,000 students.” Already-tight budgets were hit. Over 80 percent of the budgets of HBCUs comes from financial aid. Institutions scrambled to make up the shortfall. Some, like Morehouse, furloughed faculty. After intense criticism, the White House changed the policy, but the damage had already been done for many black students. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 367

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Evidence for judging whether the value gap operates through well-meaning Democratic policy.