Lawsuit Seeks to Steer More Funds to Maryland’s Historically Black Universities

The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to end several academic programs at five predominantly white state universities in Maryland. The funds would then be directed to similar programs at the state’s four historically black universities.

The lawsuit seeks to dissolve the following academic programs, which the coalition claims duplicate and unnecessarily compete with programs at the black universities:

 • All new undergraduate programs for first- and second-year students at the University of Baltimore. Previously the university only offered classes for junior and senior transfer students and for graduate education.
• Master’s and doctoral programs in engineering at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
• Graduate programs in public health at the University of Maryland-Baltimore.
• Undergraduate programs in exercise science, marketing, business, and computer science at Salisbury University.
• The MBA program that is run jointly by the University of Baltimore and Towson State University.