Washington, DC - After three years of tireless effort, the bipartisan bill H.R. 694 the "Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2007" introduced by Representatives Edolphus Towns and J. Randy Forbes has passed the U.S. House of Representatives today with a vote of 331 to 59.

"This is great news for our Minority Serving Institutions, particularly our Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Students enrolled in HBCUs need all of the necessary state-of-the-art tools that will allow them to compete in a global society," said Congressman Towns.

This legislation establishes a new grant program within the U.S. Department of Commerce providing up to $250 million for 2008 and any sums necessary for Fiscal-Years 2009 through 2012 to strengthen the ability to do the following:

• Purchase digital and wireless network technologies and infrastructure equipment for campus wiring, equipment upgrades;
• Develop and provide technology education services;
• Provide technical assistance through workshops, distance learning and other technology applications;
• Provide professional development for faculty and administrators responsible for education, with an emphasis on adapting all modes of instruction to include technology;
• Implement joint projects and consortia with other MSIs to provide technology education;
• Foster the use of information communications technology to increase engineering, math, and science research.

A report by the Alliance of Equity in Higher Education shows that less than half of MSI students own computers; one quarter of MSIs either recommended or required student computer ownership or provided financial assistance for students to acquire to computers; eighty-eight percent of Historically Black Colleges and Universities have only the minimum standard of connectivity, indicating that most HBCUs are not taking advantage of high speed connections available in their communities; and more than 60 percent of the U.S. population uses the Internet at home, while only 37 percent of Hispanics and 46 percent of African-Americans have Internet access at home.

At the very least, this legislation would address the instrumentation and technology infrastructure gap that exists at Minority Serving Institutions.

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