PUBLIC 4-YEAR COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY FINANCE: EQUALITY OF STATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO PUBLIC HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES By CHRISTOPHER WEAVER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 © 2018 Christopher K. Weaver To my mother, Dianne Weaver, without her none of this would be possible. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge my dissertation Chair and Co-Chair Dr. David Hedge and Dr. Sharon Austin. I would also like to acknowledge my committee members Dr. Lynn Leverty, Dr. Beth Rosenson, and Dr. Paul Ortiz. This also would not be possible if it wasn’t for the support of the University of Florida’s Office of Graduate Minority Programs administered by Dean Henry Frierson, Dr. Tyisha Hathorn, Earl Wade, and Sarah McLemore. I must also acknowledge Florida A&M University, for this illustrious institution is the inspiration of this study, the provider of my doctoral fellowship, and the institution that helped mold me into the man that I am today. FAMU taught me how to do more with less, that excuses are tools of the incompetent, and the meaning of “Excellence with Caring.” I would also be remised if I did not acknowledge the greatest fraternity ever organized, The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. Through my association with this fraternity, I was able cultivate life long friendships with brothers who inspired me to be great. These brothers included but are not limited to: Tallie Brinson, Dr. Terrell Coring, Robert Little, Malachi Green, Reynaldo Russell, Riccardo Jean, Gregory Boler, Quinton Stroud, Quinton Strother, Derrick Heck, Zeddrick Barber, Omari Crawford, Brian Freeman, Jared Fields, Bradford Moye, Royle King, and Iman Sandifer. I would also like to acknowledge my beautiful partner Sarah Anderson who supported me, understood me and never complained about the time required away from her to finish this research project. Last but not least I would like to thank the countless anonymous people who reported me to the University Police for being suspicious while putting in late night hours in my department’s computer lab and the countless number of people who assumed that the only way I could attend the University of Florida was by running track or playing football. Their bias was my motivation. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................10 Importance of Study ...............................................................................................................14 Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................................16 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................................18 2 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................23 The History of Black Higher Education- Past and Present .....................................................23 Past: From Slaves to Educated Freeman .........................................................................23 Present HBCU Diversity .................................................................................................35 Non-black Students Attending HBCUs ....................................................................35 Non-black Faculty at HBCUs ..................................................................................39 Racial History of Inadequate HBCU Funding ........................................................................41 3 DATA AND METHODS .......................................................................................................48 Theoretical Framework ...........................................................................................................48 The Basics of Public Higher Education Finance .............................................................48 State Appropriations .................................................................................................49 State Grants and Contract .........................................................................................51 State Capital Appropriations ....................................................................................53 Politics of Public University Budgeting ..........................................................................54 State Governance and Institutional Autonomy ................................................................58 Race and Public Policy ....................................................................................................60 Research Questions and Hypotheses ......................................................................................64 Data .........................................................................................................................................65 Variable Construction and Description ..................................................................................66 Dependent Variable .........................................................................................................66 Independent Variables .....................................................................................................67 State Mandated Spending .........................................................................................67 Political Variables ....................................................................................................69 State Variables ..........................................................................................................71 5 Institutional Control Variables .................................................................................72 Methodology ...........................................................................................................................75 Quantitative Analysis ..............................................................................................................76 Assumptions ...........................................................................................................................80 Delimitations ...........................................................................................................................80 Limitations ..............................................................................................................................80 4 RESULTS ...............................................................................................................................83 State Financial Support Trends From 2004-2013 ...................................................................83 State Financial Support Political Model .................................................................................97 State Financial Support Institutional Model .........................................................................103 State Financial Support Full Model ......................................................................................107 Summary ...............................................................................................................................110 5 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................132 Summary Findings ................................................................................................................133 Question One: State Financial Support Trends .............................................................133 Hypothesis One: State Interest Payments and State Financial Support to HBCUs .......136 Hypothesis Two: State Political Ideologies and State Financial Support to HBCUs ....140 Hypothesis Three: House Republican Majority and State Financial Support to HBCUs .......................................................................................................................144 Hypothesis Four: State Unified Government and State Financial Support to HBCUs .148 Hypothesis Five: State Republican Unified Government and State Financial Support to HBCUs .....................................................................................................152 Hypothesis Six: State Governance and State Financial Support to HBCUs .................156 Hypothesis Seven: Fiscal Autonomy and State Financial Support to HBCUs .............160 Hypothesis Eight: HBCUs and State Financial Support to HBCUs ..............................165 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................168 REFERENCE LIST .....................................................................................................................172 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................188