Lincoln University Students Sue Missouri for $548.7M Over Land-Grant Underfunding

Seven current and former students of Lincoln University, a historically Black land-grant institution in Missouri, filed a federal lawsuit against the state on Wednesday, Inside Higher Ed reported ^[1]. They seek $548.7 million, plus interest, that they say Missouri failed to allocate to the university between 1987 and 2020 ^[1]. The filing is the first step in a campaign by a group called the 1890 Project, which intends to recover $12.6 billion in documented underfunding of historically Black land-grant colleges across 16 states through litigation, negotiation and legislation, according to its lead attorney, Donald Calloway Jr. ^[1].

What the complaint alleges

The story explains that an 1890 federal law requires states to fund historically Black land-grant colleges equitably with the existing land-grant institutions that, at the time, admitted only white students ^[1]. In Missouri, that counterpart is the University of Missouri system, which the story identifies as the state's 1862, predominantly white, land-grant institution ^[1]. The suit claims the state violated the plaintiffs' 14th Amendment rights by failing to enforce the 1890 law, and violated their civil rights through race discrimination ^[1].

The defendants are the state, Gov. Mike Kehoe, the state higher education coordinating board, Commissioner of Higher Education Bennett Boggs, and University of Missouri system president Mun Y. Choi ^[1]. Kehoe, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the pending case ^[1]. The plaintiffs ask for repayment under federal supervision and for a plan that would secure equal funding for Lincoln going forward ^[1].

The plaintiffs describe the alleged harm through their own campus experiences ^[1]. One plaintiff who attended in 2023 and 2024 describes a residence hall built in 1963 with cold water, faulty water pressure and a burst pipe, and says he left without a degree and now earns $15 an hour ^[1]. A current sophomore says she lost 15 pounds in her first year because the dining hall closed before her band practice finished ^[1]. Herbert J. Kitchen, a 1988 graduate, recalls unreliable heat and hot water in the dorms and believes his degree carries less weight than it would have with fair funding ^[1].

Why it matters to research and grants offices

Federal officials connected the funding gap to research competitiveness in 2023 ^[1]. That year, the Biden administration wrote to the governors of 16 of the 19 states with historically Black land-grant institutions, urging repayment over time of gaps calculated on a per-student basis ^[1]. Its letter to Missouri estimated Lincoln's shortfall at more than $361 million over three decades and said the money "would have better positioned the university to compete for research grants" ^[1]. The story does not explain how that estimate relates to the larger figure in the lawsuit, which covers 1987 to 2020 and adds interest ^[1].

The 2023 letters have also become harder to find ^[1]. The 16 letters were previously posted on the Education Department website but appear to have been taken down within the past six weeks, the department did not answer whether they had moved, and Inside Higher Ed retrieved them through the Wayback Machine ^[1].

Calloway, who served one term in the Missouri House after his 2009 election, was part of the legislature during the period of alleged underfunding, and he acknowledged the irony of now suing the state ^[1]. He said many legislators, attorneys general, governors and higher education commissioners accepted the funding mechanisms they inherited without questioning them ^[1].

What to watch next

• Missouri's formal response to the complaint, given the governor's decision not to comment on the pending litigation ^[1].
• Whether the 1890 Project brings claims in any of the other states covered by its $12.6 billion figure ^[1].
• How the court treats the argument that chronic underfunding caused personal and professional damages to individual students and alumni ^[1].
• How the court responds to the requested remedies: federally supervised repayment and a plan for equal funding in the future ^[1].
• Whether the Education Department clarifies if the 2023 letters were relocated or removed ^[1].