Latest news with #DigitalEquityAct
Axios
2 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Trump agencies turn up heat on culture wars
Government agencies in the Trump 2.0 era are going far beyond their traditional tech and media policy arenas to tackle issues around race, gender, alleged political bias and collusion. Why it matters: President Trump's push to expand executive branch power is testing the independence of regulatory agencies. Zoom out: Trump signed an executive order in February claiming executive branch authority over what have historically been independent federal agencies. Shortly after, he fired the FTC's the two Democratic commissioners. (They later sued the administration over the move and the litigation is ongoing.) There are currently only three commissioners serving at the FCC. The lone Democrat, Anna Gomez, has condemned chair Brendan Carr's investigations. Here's a look at the state of play: FTC: The agency has alleged that some companies have banded together to block ads based on their political content, and recently approved the Omnicom-Interpublic merger with a restriction on ad boycotts. The FTC also held a workshop last week on "Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices in 'Gender-Affirming Care' for Minors," a new line of inquiry for the FTC, which generally wades into health care only to examine marketing claims about products or treatments. That workshop drew pushback from consumer and LGBTQ+ groups, which said it showed "a willingness to exploit the agency's consumer protection mandate." FCC: The FCC has launched several investigations into media and telecom companies over their diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The FCC also recently decided to postpone enforcing a bipartisan law that made it more affordable to place calls from prisons and jails, which Gomez said was "flouting the will of Congress." DOJ: The department has also waded into gender-affirming care, sending subpoenas to 20 physicians and clinics that provide trans care to minors, looking for health care fraud and false statements. On the media side, the DOJ filed a statement of interest in a case where major media companies are accused of colluding with each other in an attempt to suppress alternate viewpoints on COVID-19. Reality check: "In addition to reading the statutes broadly, the Administration is also simply refusing to enforce certain statutes and/or spend appropriated funds," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior counselor at Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Schwartzman cited the Commerce Department refusing to release previously-awarded grants under the Digital Equity Act: "On its face, this should be impermissible, but we will have to see what the courts are going to do about this," he added. The big picture: The agencies' efforts to target companies over social issues are largely working. CBS parent Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle with Trump over a defamation lawsuit that legal experts say it could've won in court. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Gannett and a slew of major media companies have all announced rollbacks of their DEI policies to mirror the administration's new mandate. The FCC last week approved two T-Mobile acquisitions after the telecom giant dropped its DEI programs. What they're saying: Conservatives argue the agencies are well within their legal limits and jurisdictions to wade into such social issues like DEI and transgender medical care. Leaders of these agencies have been tying the issues to subjects in their remit, like discrimination and consumer protection laws, and saying there's no difference from past proceedings as they carry out Trump's mandates. "Thanks to President Trump's leadership, corporations are ending their discriminatory DEI policies," Carr said in a statement to Axios. "I am pleased to see that many of the businesses the FCC regulates are among them." "Many of the panelists who appeared say they were victims of mutilation and abuse, and I don't know who is on the other side of that," Joe Simonson, FTC director of public affairs, said in a statement in response to critics of the agency's workshop. The other side:"It's the MAGA-fication of these agencies, replacing consumer protection with cultural crusades," said Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the Chamber of Progress, a center-left tech industry policy coalition.
Dominion Post
22-06-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
DOGE terminates $9 million state digital equity grant
dbeard@ MORGANTOWN – A $9 million federal grant to the state Economic Development Department recently got DOGE'd. But the department and Gov. Patrick Morrisey both failed to answer questions about it. The $9,011,588 grant came from the U.S Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration to support the state's digital equity program. DOGE gives the termination date as May 9 and notes a total savings of $8,791,067.90. The $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was intended to expand internet access for certain disadvantaged populations, according to the Associated Press. 'It gave states and tribes flexibility to deliver high-speed internet access to families that could not afford it, computers to kids who did not have them, telehealth access to older adults in rural areas, and training and job skills to veterans.' But President Trump announced in late May his intention to end it, AP reported. USASpending shows that the grant began Dec. 1, 2024 and was slated to run through Nov. 30, 2029. Its stated purpose was to implement West Virginia's digital equity plan. Among its missions: launching digital skills and local digital equity planning programs; a piloting program to supply laptops; and collecting data on such things as number of covered populations served, total number served, and personal testimony of participants. The grant description said, 'The proposed projects will result in narrowing the digital divide, improved access to digital resources, and increased accessibility and impact initiatives for community development.' Morrisey and the Economic Development Department failed to respond to three inquiries sent to each on two separate days. In early January, echoing Trump, Morrisey issued an executive order eliminating DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – from state government. DEI opponents generally view it as a form of reverse racism. Among the questions we asked Morrisey and the department were if the grant termination was tied to DEI opposition, what the impact of the grant termination might be, and if the state would continue the digital equity program via some other means. The general consensus is that West Virginia's broadband access challenges are tied to terrain and the state's rural nature, and we asked Morrisey and the department how those issues factor into the aims of the digital equity plan – getting no answer, of course. We also asked about the difference between the full grant amount and the listed savings – $220,520.10 – and if some of the money has been spent, what on, and if they have to return it. As it happens, on Thursday, Morrisey announced funding for broadband infrastructure deployment projects in 10 counties to facilitate the expansion of fiber-to-the-home broadband infrastructure. Morrisey said that with the installation of approximately 362 miles of fiber infrastructure, 2,897 locations will gain access to high-speed broadband. The counties are Preston, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Grant, Jackson, Lewis, Mason, Pendleton and Putnam.
CNET
07-06-2025
- Politics
- CNET
82% of HBCUs Fight Internet Deserts: One Institution's Strategy for Change
Imagine trying to complete your senior research project without access to a stable internet connection. Or consider how difficult it might be to do work on a group project if you're constantly getting kicked off your Wi-Fi. That's the reality for many students at historically Black colleges and universities. Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Claflin University, shared a story about an email he received a few years ago from a student facing that very scenario. The student wrote: 'It is my prayer that Claflin's passion for education aligns with its compassion. I am currently typing my senior research paper at the local McDonald's that I drive to nine miles every day to do this work because my town doesn't have Wi-Fi bandwidth.' She said she would sit in the parking lot for four hours daily to work on her senior thesis. Shortly after receiving this email, Claflin University partnered with the Student Freedom Initiative to help provide students with broadband access. According to a 2021 McKinsey report, 82% of HBCUs are located in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are areas that either severely lack access to adequate internet or have little internet at all. Despite this, broadband programs aimed at closing the digital divide in the US are currently in retreat. In May, President Donald Trump announced the termination of the Digital Equity Act, calling it 'racist' and 'unconstitutional.' This $2.75 billion program was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from 2021. It was established to help close the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption. This program was also essential to funding digital literacy initiatives for public schools and colleges, with some states and local governments already beginning to receive grant rewards. With the untimely end of the DEA, those funds never reached their destination. Locating local internet providers In 2020, students at Claflin University and the surrounding areas in Orangeburg, South Carolina, struggled with inadequate internet access because they lived in a broadband desert. 'The only way for students to actually get access to content was to come together in areas that provided [broadband] access, which created a problem,' said Keith Shoates, the president and CEO of the Student Freedom Initiative. He highlighted that at a time when students were supposed to be in quarantine, they were forced to come out of isolation and put themselves and their peers at risk just to do their schoolwork. The Student Freedom Initiative is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the wealth gap through education. In 2023, SFI partnered with technology company Cisco, providing 5G internet service across campus. While the Orangeburg community still faces challenges from being in a broadband desert, Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a thriving space for students. A long history of HBCUs in broadband deserts Access to an adequate internet connection equips students to do better in the classroom and beyond. But many HBCUs are in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are located primarily in the Black Rural South of the US. According to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Black Rural South consists of more than 152 counties in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This information pretty much matches data from the Student Freedom Initiative. As seen from the map above, the Student Freedom Initiative currently works with more than 25 HBCUs in broadband deserts, all located along the Black Rural South in the US. These include Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University. Knowing the history of HBCUs helps one better understand these broadband deserts and how they exist. HBCUs are among the most underfunded institutions in the country because of the effects of historical and present-day systemic racism and practices like digital redlining. The term redlining dates back to the New Deal era in the 1930s when banks denied residents from 'at-risk' neighborhoods, predominantly from Black communities, to qualify for loans. During this era, government agencies created color-coded maps, highlighting which neighborhoods are least to most risky in terms of loan-worthiness. Digital redlining is a discriminatory practice that involves internet providers excluding their services in certain locations. If you take a look at a map, you can see the distinction between areas with broadband and those without. According to data from the US Census Bureau (PDF), residents in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to have broadband internet subscriptions. Moreover, more than 90% of households in the urban south had broadband access in 2021, versus 85% in the rural south. For example, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia ranked the lowest in broadband access. US Census Bureau Although redlining has been illegal for quite some time, a form of digital redlining still exists, as seen by the lack of competition among internet providers in the Black Rural South. HBCUs are located in areas with inadequate broadband infrastructure and it doesn't help that these institutions are severely underfunded by at least $12 million in more than 15 states. According to a Brookings Metro report (PDF), 'HBCUs are chronically underfunded due to state underinvestment, lower alumni contributions (related to lower Black incomes and Black wealth), and lower endowments.' Plenty of studies have shown that low-income communities often lack access to adequate home broadband connections. The McKinsey report noted earlier also shows that more than 81% of HBCUs are in counties where the median wage is below the national average and, compared to non-HBCUs, are in areas where the projected job growth is below the national average. Why does this matter? Improving broadband infrastructure would not just benefit HBCUs or the millions of disconnected Americans in rural communities but could help the US economy at large. Broadband access for HBCUs could mobilize the economy There seems to be a wave of uncertainty regarding the country's current state of broadband programs. The Affordable Connectivity Program ended in May 2024, leaving more than 23 million households without access to affordable home internet and, with the recent news about the Digital Equity Act, disconnected Americans may rely on federal funds primarily from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. But states have run into delays in receiving those funds because of bureaucratic changes. Additionally, there could be further holdups in light of potential changes to the program from the new administration. According to some estimates, most states may not hear back on a timeline until June or July. Shoates emphasized SFI's commitment to helping students, regardless of where federal broadband programs stand in this country. 'We're still moving forward because the problem still exists,' Shoates said. He emphasized the significance of moving forward with non-federal sources to address the broadband gap for students. In addition to their partnership with Cisco in deploying 5G internet hotspots for Claflin University, SFI also connects these HBCUs to high-net-worth individuals, organizations and other philanthropists in their network. The Student Freedom Initiative was founded after Robert F. Smith, a philanthropist and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, gave nearly $34 million to the graduating class of Morehouse College in 2019, paying off their student loans. Smith currently serves as SFI's chairman. Without the federal backbone support, nonprofit groups such as SFI will work with state legislatures and their corporate partners to keep the wheels moving. Still, eliminating or stalling federal funding from this equation will slow the reduction of the broadband gap. Warmack, Claflin's president, conveyed that federal broadband funding can really help, especially for severely underfunded institutions such as HBCUs. For example, Claflin University received a $2.9 million grant from the Connecting Minority Community Project through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which helped provide wireless internet on campus and in the surrounding areas. Shoates maintains that investing in HBCUs and improving their broadband infrastructure could potentially increase economic activity by half a trillion dollars, which would be reflected in the country's GDP. McKinsey According to data from McKinsey, a strong HBCU network could increase Black worker incomes by about $10 million, contribute at least $1.2 billion in incremental business profit, reduce student loan debt by $300 million and provide $1 billion in additional consumer expenditures. Broadband access and future student outcomes According to a 2021 report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (PDF), 13% of Black students primarily use a tablet or cellphone to complete their coursework, compared to 8% of college students who do not. More than half of Black students who reported having unreliable internet connections complained about being able to access only some content online and or that it's difficult because of slow internet. From the 2021 report, Online Isn't Optional. Student Polling on Access to Internet and Devices. Institute of Higher Education Policy Yvette Thomas, SFI's program director of Institutional Transformation, said that HBCUs face persisting challenges because of the lack of high-speed broadband and the digital gap, which restricts students from accessing resources and online professional opportunities. Thomas spearheads the execution of HBCU capacity building, including modernizing the Information Technology infrastructure. 'When kids come to college, they usually come with at least five to six devices for the network and it slows the network down,' Thomas said. Without access to a high-speed internet connection, students can fall behind in the digital landscape, especially in the new era of artificial intelligence. 'There's gonna be this 26-mile marathon and they're gonna be on mile two … and that puts them at a competitive disadvantage,' Shoates said. He added that broadband access is imperative to students as it equips them with the proper digital literacy skills they need in the workforce. Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a space that provides 5G internet for students but what about the other 82% of HBCUs still living in these internet deserts? Who's to say that there aren't others with similar experiences to that Claflin student driving to a McDonald's parking lot for Wi-Fi just to complete work? Without the federal backbone support, the work of SFI, its corporate partners and generous donations from philanthropists are vital to help reduce the broadband gap in the meantime.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Millions for public Wi-Fi, digital skills classes in Pa. cut as Trump targets ‘racist' broadband program
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. Pennsylvania will lose out on more than $35 million in federal funding to expand high-speed internet access after the Trump administration abruptly canceled two grant programs that were part of former President Joe Biden's push to bring broadband to everyone in the U.S. The move came shortly after President Donald Trump declared the underlying law 'racist' and 'wholly unconstitutional' in a social media post in early May. The funding was created by the Digital Equity Act, part of the sweeping infrastructure package that passed Congress with bipartisan support in 2021. The decision affects more than $2.5 billion in grants to states, as well as local governments, nonprofits, and universities. In many cases, grant awards had been recommended — but not finalized — when Biden left office. In Pennsylvania, the canceled funding includes more than $25 million for the state Broadband Development Authority and almost $12 million for the city of Philadelphia to teach digital skills and provide free, or low-cost, internet subscriptions. A grant to the Department of Human Services to help residents of 10 rural counties in northern Pennsylvania use telehealth services was also terminated. The department was informed of the cancellation on May 20, a spokesperson said. For groups that expected to receive grants, the news brought three years of planning to a halt overnight, said Drew Garner, director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. The news came as a 'punch in the stomach,' he said. Information about the grant programs, including news releases with lists of recommended awards, has been removed from the website of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees the broadband initiatives. NTIA did not respond to a request for comment. A variety of factors combine to keep internet access out of reach for some residents. In rural areas, a lack of infrastructure prevents the internet from being available at speeds that meet the federal government's definition of broadband. Under the largest broadband program created by the infrastructure law, Pennsylvania will receive $1.1 billion to connect every household and business in the state with high-speed internet. State Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R., York), who sits on the state broadband authority's board, said that program — which is separate from the funding that was canceled — is her top priority. 'You can't even begin to have a conversation about equity when a good part of your state doesn't have any access to broadband at all,' she said. Another Republican board member, state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar of Somerset County, said the digital equity program 'had a lot of faults' and was 'moot' compared to the funding to build out broadband infrastructure. 'What's the point in teaching people how to use the internet if they don't have it to use?' But even where broadband is available, many people cannot afford to pay for it or they lack the necessary skills, knowledge, or devices to use it, concluded a state plan completed last year. The Digital Equity Act aimed to address these barriers. In a series of public meetings held by the broadband authority in 2023, attendees across Pennsylvania said they needed the kinds of services the digital equity funding aimed to provide. In Tioga County: 'a need for digital literacy programs.' In Dauphin County: 'a need for teaching how to use devices.' In Washington County: 'residents spoke about the issue of seniors falling for online scams and, in turn, being scared of hesitant to use the internet.' 'What experience has shown is that this is not a 'if you build it they will come' situation,' said Kate Rivera, executive director of the Technology Learning Collaborative, a Philadelphia nonprofit. 'Putting the infrastructure in place to make sure households have the option to connect to the internet is only the first step.' In its plan, Pennsylvania outlined its goals for spending the $25.5 million the state anticipated receiving: expanding public Wi-Fi, investing in classes to teach residents digital skills, and distributing free or low-cost laptops. Those aims are not controversial, said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, one of the groups whose anticipated funding was canceled by the Trump administration. But since the infrastructure bill became law in 2021, the word 'equity' has become highly politicized, she said. The day Trump took office, he signed an executive order to end diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the federal government, including 'equity-related' grants. In early May, Trump called the Digital Equity Act 'unconstitutional' in a post on his Truth Social media network, adding: 'No more woke handouts based on race!' The law aimed to help groups who face challenges accessing the internet, broadly defined. That includes racial and ethnic minorities, as well as older adults, low-income households, residents of rural areas, and veterans, among others. Almost 80% of Pennsylvanians fall into at least one of these categories, state documents show. Trump's decision to withhold the funding is legally precarious and likely to be challenged in court. The president does not have the legal authority to withhold funding that Congress has approved, said David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University. Lawsuits have been filed in similar cases where grants have been frozen, or revoked, but none has yet reached the point of a final ruling, he said. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has criticized the Trump administration for cutting off other federal funding for Pennsylvania and has joined lawsuits to challenge some of those decisions. A spokesperson for the Department of Community and Economic Development said that the state is 'currently evaluating the implications and any next steps' on the termination of the digital equity funding. The Digital Equity Act represented a historic federal investment in an area that had previously been funded in a piecemeal way, advocates said. With that money in jeopardy, there is no clear way for state or local government, or private philanthropy, to make up the shortfall. Even if the grants are ultimately restored, advocates said, the delays will cause major disruption and erode trust in the program among communities the funding was intended to help. The $1.1 billion in broadband funding that Pennsylvania expects under the larger program, meanwhile, is on hold pending a federal review. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has said NTIA is 'ripping out' the Biden administration's 'pointless requirements' and 'revamping' the program to take a 'tech-neutral approach.' The current rules prioritize broadband networks built using fiber optic cables. Fiber is generally more expensive than other technologies but offers the fastest internet speeds. Satellite connections, such as those offered by Elon Musk's Starlink, are cheaper to install, but slower and less reliable. In March, a top federal official overseeing the broadband program wrote in a resignation letter that the proposed changes could 'benefit technology that delivers slower speeds at higher costs to the household paying the bill.' Pennsylvania completed one round of grant applications in February and changes could cause the state to have to start over. In a budget hearing in February, DCED Secretary Rick Siger assured lawmakers the money allocated would cover every eligible location. If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CNET
04-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
The Top Black Colleges in the Country Are Still Living in Internet Deserts. Here's What to Know
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Claflin University, received an email from a student who had left campus and returned home to quarantine. The student wrote: 'It is my prayer that Claflin's passion for education aligns with its compassion.' 'I am currently typing my senior research paper at the local McDonald's that I drive to nine miles every day to do this work because my town doesn't have Wi-Fi bandwidth,' the student wrote. She said she would sit in the parking lot for four hours daily to work on her senior thesis. Shortly after receiving this email, Claflin University partnered with the Student Freedom Initiative to help provide students with broadband access. Broadband programs aimed at closing the digital divide in the US are currently in retreat but according to a 2021 McKinsey report, the 82% of Historically Black Colleges and Universities situated in broadband deserts aren't going anywhere. Broadband deserts are areas that either severely lack access to adequate or have no internet. Locating local internet providers In May, President Donald Trump announced the termination of the Digital Equity Act (DEA), calling it 'racist' and 'unconstitutional.' This $2.75 billion program was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from 2021. It was established to help close the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption. This program was also essential to funding digital literacy initiatives for public schools and colleges, with some states and local governments already beginning to receive grant rewards. With the untimely end of the DEA, those funds never reached their destination. In 2020, students at Claflin University and the surrounding areas in Orangeburg, South Carolina, struggled with inadequate internet access because they lived in a broadband desert. 'The only way for students to actually get access to content was to come together in areas that provided [broadband] access, which created a problem,' said Keith Shoates, the president and CEO of the Student Freedom Initiative. He highlighted that at a time when students were supposed to be in quarantine, they were forced to come out of isolation and put themselves and their peers at risk, just to do their schoolwork. The Student Freedom Initiative is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the wealth gap through education. In 2023, SFI partnered with technology company Cisco, providing 5G internet service across campus. While the Orangeburg community still faces challenges from being in a broadband desert, Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a thriving space for students. A long history of HBCUs in broadband deserts Access to an adequate internet connection equips students to do better in the classroom and beyond. But many HBCUs are in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are located primarily in the Black Rural South of the US. According to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Black Rural South consists of more than 152 counties in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This information pretty much matches data from the Student Freedom Initiative. As seen from the map above, the Student Freedom Initiative currently works with more than 25 HBCUs in broadband deserts, all located along the Black Rural South in the US. These include Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University. Knowing the history of HBCUs helps one better understand these broadband deserts and how they exist. HBCUs are among the most underfunded institutions in the country, because of the effects of historical and present-day systemic racism and practices like digital redlining. The term redlining dates back to the New Deal era in the 1930s when banks denied residents from 'at-risk' neighborhoods, predominantly from Black communities, to qualify for loans. During this era, government agencies created color-coded maps, highlighting which neighborhoods are least to most risky in terms of loan-worthiness. Digital redlining is a discriminatory practice that involves internet providers excluding their services in certain locations. If you take a look at a map, you can see the distinction between areas with broadband and those without. According to data from the US Census Bureau (PDF), residents in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to have broadband internet subscriptions. Moreover, more than 90% of households in the urban south had broadband access in 2021, versus 85% in the rural south. For example, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia ranked the lowest in broadband access. US Census Bureau Although redlining has been illegal for quite some time, a form of digital redlining still exists, as seen by the lack of competition among internet providers in the Black Rural South. HBCUs are located in areas with inadequate broadband infrastructure and it doesn't help that these institutions are severely underfunded by at least $12 million in more than 15 states. According to a Brookings Metro report (PDF), 'HBCUs are chronically underfunded due to state underinvestment, lower alumni contributions (related to lower Black incomes and Black wealth), and lower endowments.' Plenty of studies have shown that low-income communities often lack access to adequate home broadband connections. The McKinsey report noted earlier also shows that more than 81% of HBCUs are in counties where the median wage is below the national average and, compared to non-HBCUs, are in areas where the projected job growth is below the national average. Why does this matter? Improving broadband infrastructure would not just benefit HBCUs or the millions of disconnected Americans in rural communities but could help the US economy at large. Broadband access for HBCUs could mobilize the economy There seems to be a wave of uncertainty regarding the country's current state of broadband programs. The Affordable Connectivity Program ended in May 2024, leaving more than 23 million households without access to affordable home internet and, with the recent news about the Digital Equity Act, disconnected Americans may rely on federal funds primarily from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. But states have run into delays in receiving those funds because of bureaucratic changes. Additionally, there could be further holdups in light of potential changes to the program from the new administration. According to some estimates, most states may not hear back on a timeline until June or July. Shoates emphasized SFI's commitment to helping students, regardless of where federal broadband programs stand in this country. 'We're still moving forward because the problem still exists,' Shoates said. He emphasized the significance of moving forward with non-federal sources to address the broadband gap for students. In addition to their partnership with Cisco in deploying 5G internet hotspots for Claflin University, SFI also connects these HBCUs to high-net-worth individuals, organizations and other philanthropists in their network. The Student Freedom Initiative was founded after Robert F. Smith, a philanthropist and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, gave nearly $34 million to the graduating class of Morehouse College in 2019, paying off their student loans. Smith currently serves as SFI's chairman. Without the federal backbone support, nonprofit groups such as SFI will work with state legislatures and their corporate partners to keep the wheels moving. Still, eliminating or stalling federal funding from this equation will slow the reduction of the broadband gap. Warmack, Claflin's president, conveyed that federal broadband funding can really help, especially for severely underfunded institutions such as HBCUs. For example, Claflin University received a $2.9 million grant from the Connecting Minority Community Project through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which helped provide wireless internet on campus and in the surrounding areas. Shoates maintains that investing in HBCUs and improving their broadband infrastructure could potentially increase economic activity by half a trillion dollars, which would be reflected in the country's GDP. McKinsey According to data from McKinsey, a strong HBCU network could increase Black worker incomes by about $10 million, contribute at least $1.2 billion in incremental business profit, reduce student loan debt by $300 million and provide $1 billion in additional consumer expenditures. Broadband access and future student outcomes According to a 2021 report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (PDF), 13% of Black students primarily use a tablet or cellphone to complete their coursework, compared to 8% of college students who do not. More than half of Black students who reported having unreliable internet connections complained about being able to access only some content online and or that it's difficult because of slow internet. From the 2021 report, Online Isn't Optional. Student Polling on Access to Internet and Devices. Institute of Higher Education Policy Yvette Thomas, SFI's program director of Institutional Transformation, said that HBCUs face persisting challenges because of the lack of high-speed broadband and the digital gap, which restricts students from accessing resources and online professional opportunities. Thomas spearheads the execution of HBCU capacity building, including modernizing the Information Technology infrastructure. 'When kids come to college, they usually come with at least five to six devices for the network and it slows the network down,' Thomas said. Without access to a high-speed internet connection, students can fall behind in the digital landscape, especially in the new era of artificial intelligence. 'There's gonna be this 26-mile marathon and they're gonna be on mile two … and that puts them at a competitive disadvantage,' Shoates said. He added that broadband access is imperative to students as it equips them with the proper digital literacy skills they need in the workforce. Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a space that provides 5G internet for students but what about the other 82% of HBCUs still living in these internet deserts? Who's to say that there aren't others with similar experiences to that Claflin student driving to a McDonald's parking lot for Wi-Fi just to complete work? Without the federal backbone support, the work of SFI, its corporate partners and generous donations from philanthropists are vital to help reduce the broadband gap in the meantime.
