I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2664
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for additional uses
of funds for grants to strengthen historically Black colleges and univer-
sities, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL7, 2025
Ms. A
DAMS(for herself, Ms. CROCKETT, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs.
B
EATTY, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. NORTON, Ms. STANSBURY, Ms. WILSONof
Florida, Ms. S
EWELL, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. CAR-
SON, and Mr. FROST) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide
for additional uses of funds for grants to strengthen
historically Black colleges and universities, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3
Congress finds the following: 4
(1) According to a 2021 study by Americans for 5
the Arts, the arts are an invaluable aspect of Amer-6
ican society, as they strengthen the economy, im-7
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prove healthcare, spark creativity and innovation, 1
and unify communities, with 73 percent of partici-2
pants agreeing that the arts help them to better un-3
derstand other cultures. 4
(2) Many United States museums are grappling 5
with diversity. Studies report that only 1.4 percent 6
of artists featured in America’s top museums are 7
black, only 4 percent of staff directors at top muse-8
ums are Black, and that only 2.5 percent of Black 9
Americans are owners of Arts-Entertainment busi-10
ness. 11
(3) Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 12
or HBCUs, are uniquely positioned to produce a di-13
verse generation of art professionals and help bring 14
much needed attention to works by Black artists. 15
HBCUs have historically served as long-standing 16
conservators and crucial supporters of Black art and 17
for the teaching, supporting, and displaying of es-18
sential Black artists who may otherwise have re-19
mained unrecognized. 20
(4) Arts programs and arts departments are ex-21
pensive and have often fallen victim to funding 22
shortfalls. In 2018, the College Art Association re-23
ported that at least 18 institutions of higher edu-24
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cation planned to severely curtail or eliminate their 1
arts departments. 2
(5) HBCUs have also been underfunded by 3
$12,600,000,000 compared to their predominantly 4
White counterparts over the last 30 years. Some 5
HBCUs have shrunk, consolidated, or cut their arts 6
programs due to limited resources. 7
(6) An increased investment in HBCU arts, 8
arts education, and culture programs can further 9
help students of color access an affordable arts edu-10
cation and ensure the continued preparation, con-11
servation, display, and study of works by Black art-12
ists. 13
SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES 14
AND UNIVERSITIES. 15
Section 323 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 16
U.S.C. 1062) is amended— 17
(1) in subsection (a), 18
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (14) and 19
(15) as paragraphs (19) and (20), respectively; 20
and 21
(B) by inserting after paragraph (13) the 22
following: 23
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‘‘(14) Providing financial and other assistance 1
to students in arts, arts education, and cultural pro-2
grams. 3
‘‘(15) Establishing outreach programs and de-4
velopment offices for arts, arts education, and cul-5
tural departments. 6
‘‘(16) Providing comprehensive wraparound 7
services for arts, arts education, and cultural stu-8
dents, including faculty and peer mentorship, work- 9
based learning opportunities, guidance counseling, 10
and career advising. 11
‘‘(17) Exhibiting, maintaining, monitoring, and 12
protecting Black art collections in exhibition and in 13
storage. 14
‘‘(18) Providing well-paid apprenticeship, in-15
ternship, and fellowship opportunities to students in 16
arts, arts education, and cultural programs through 17
partnerships with nonprofit arts, arts education, and 18
cultural institutes.’’; and 19
(2) by adding at the end the following: 20
‘‘(d) N
ATIONALENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.—An 21
institution may enter into a partnership with the National 22
Endowment for the Arts to carry out the activities de-23
scribed in paragraphs (14) through (18) of subsection (a). 24
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‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘arts’ 1
means art forms used for self-expression and interpreta-2
tion, including performance, literary, visual, graphic, plas-3
tic, and decorative arts.’’. 4
Æ
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