JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Seven current and former students at Lincoln University of Missouri have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the state of decades of discriminatory underfunding at the historically Black land-grant university and seeking nearly $549 million in relief.
The complaint was filed Oct. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. It alleges that Missouri violated the Equal Protection Clause and federal civil-rights law by treating Lincoln differently from the University of Missouri, the state’s predominantly white land-grant institution.
The plaintiffs are asking for a court-supervised remedial fund of approximately $548.7 million, damages for alleged educational and economic harm, and an order requiring Missouri to fully match Lincoln’s federal land-grant funding in future years. The requested money would support campus repairs, faculty hiring, financial aid, student services and agricultural research, according to reports by Reuters and the Missouri Independent.
The lawsuit cites a 2023 analysis by the U.S. secretaries of Agriculture and Education that estimated Missouri underfunded Lincoln by $361.6 million between 1987 and 2020. That analysis was part of a broader federal finding that 16 states had shortchanged historically Black land-grant universities by a combined $12.6 billion over roughly three decades.
According to the complaint, Missouri provided no state matching money for Lincoln’s federal land-grant allocation from fiscal years 2000 through 2007 and only part of the required match in later years. The filing says Lincoln diverted about $43.5 million from its general operating budget between 2000 and 2016 to qualify for federal agricultural funds, while the University of Missouri received its full state match.
The students and alumni describe deteriorating residence halls, limited dining and health services, reduced course offerings and financial strain. Their allegations have not been proven in court.
The lawsuit names Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe, the state Coordinating Board for Higher Education, Higher Education Commissioner Bennett Boggs and University of Missouri System President Mun Choi as defendants. Kehoe declined to comment on pending litigation, according to Inside Higher Ed. Reuters reported that other state officials did not immediately respond, while the University of Missouri also declined to comment.
Founded in 1866 by members of the 62nd and 65th U.S. Colored Infantries, Lincoln later became Missouri’s 1890 land-grant institution. The case is part of the 1890 Project, a wider campaign seeking remedies for documented funding disparities affecting historically Black land-grant universities nationwide.
