Is Morehouse College the latest HBCU to be in financial peril?

theGRIO REPORT - Just a couple months after Morris Brown College in Atlanta filed for bankruptcy, Morehouse College is reportedly going through some money issues of its own...

TheGrio Staff

Oct 22, 2012

Just a couple months after Morris Brown College in Atlanta filed for bankruptcy, Morehouse College is reportedly going through some money issues of its own.

The alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and many more — has been forced cut spending and furlough staff members due to a drop in enrollment, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Normally about 8 percent of Morehouse students who pay a deposit to attend don’t enroll, but it doubled to 16 percent this year, in part because of the new loan rules,” reports the Journal-Constitution.

The Obama administration recently authorized a major grant — $228 million — directly to benefit historically black colleges and universities.

“HBCUs have made enduring, even staggering contributions to American life despite the steep financial challenges many have faced,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The grants will help these important institutions continue to provide their students with the quality education they need to compete in the global economy.”

Still, that money can do little to increase enrollment, which is also down at Morehouse’s neighboring Clark Atlanta University and Spellman College.

“This is a challenge, no question about that,” Interim Provost Willis Sheftall told the Journal-Constitution. “But it is not a crisis.”