SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Supporting Black and African American students attending postsecondary educational institutions in California serves the interests of all Californians.
(b) Historically, Black and African American students have faced overt discrimination, and have been prevented from attending many colleges and universities due to explicit segregation.
(c) Before the landmark United States Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) 347 U.S. 483, which
declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional, racial segregation in education was common in the United States.
(d) Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d, et seq.) continues to advance access and equality in education by prohibiting any person person, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to, discrimination, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, to discrimination under
any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
(e) Seventy years after the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) 347 U.S. 483, barriers and disparities for Black and African American students in postsecondary education remain.
(f) Nationally, college and university enrollment of Black and African American students has dropped since 2010.
(g) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which are public and private institutions established before 1964 in the United States that offer high-quality and accredited education and college degrees, have a long and storied history of combating discrimination.
(h) HBCUs include four-year and two-year higher education institutions established before 1964 with the primary purpose of educating Blacks and African Americans.
(i) Today, HBCUs continue their vital mission of creating opportunities for Black and African American students, and racially diverse students, to earn a postsecondary degree in a culturally rich environment.
(j) According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2022, there were 99 colleges and universities identified by the United States Department of Education as HBCUs in the United States, which enrolled, in total, more than 228,000 students.