Key facts
- Missouri is being sued by students over alleged decades of underfunding at Lincoln University.
- The lawsuit claims the state violated the US Constitution and federal civil rights law.
- Plaintiffs seek damages and an injunction for full matching of federal land-grant funding.
- A US government letter calculated Missouri underfunded Lincoln by $361.6 million from 1987 to 2020.
- Lincoln University is Missouri's first historically Black land-grant institution.
Seven current and former students at Lincoln University of Missouri filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the State of Missouri and state officials, alleging decades of systematic underfunding that violates the US Constitution and federal civil rights law. The complaint, lodged in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, seeks compensatory damages for alleged educational and economic injuries and an injunction to ensure the state fully matches Lincoln University's federal land-grant funding in the future.
Lincoln University, located in Jefferson City, is Missouri's first historically Black land-grant institution, while the University of Missouri is the state's predominantly white land-grant institution. The plaintiffs contend that Missouri appropriated less per student to Lincoln than to the University of Missouri in most fiscal years between 1987 and 2020. A September 2023 letter from the US agriculture and education secretaries calculated that Missouri had underfunded Lincoln by $361.6 million over that period.
The lawsuit details that Missouri provided no state matching funds for Lincoln's federal land-grant allocation from fiscal year 2000 through 2007, and only a partial match in subsequent years. This led Lincoln to divert approximately $43.5 million from its general operating budget between 2000 and 2016 to cover the state's share. Furthermore, the university returned nearly $8 million in federal funds from 2016 through 2018 due to its inability to meet matching requirements, while the University of Missouri's land-grant allocations were fully matched by the state during the same timeframe.
Plaintiffs, including alumni and current students, describe deteriorating campus conditions such as residence halls, limited student services, scarce course offerings, and financial hardships. One student reported losing weight because dining services closed before band practice ended, while another had to take out loans and work extensively due to a withdrawn scholarship. The lawsuit argues that the funding disparity perpetuates the legacy of Missouri's segregated higher education system.