A legislative debate over how Missouri funds higher education has put first-generation students at HBCUs at risk by threatening to tie budgets to full-time enrollment numbers, according to reporting on the situation facing Harris-Stowe State University. Xavier Hickman, a first-generation student and rising junior at Harris-Stowe, was enrolled through the TRIO Upward Bound Program after a low high school GPA. The same funding stream helped demonstrate how students reliant on targeted support can be exposed when institutional financial models change. The concern centers on a proposed state funding model that would deprive smaller institutions of resources needed to survive. The report frames the potential impact as both enrollment and program continuity risk, particularly for smaller, mission-focused schools that serve first-generation and historically underserved populations. For higher education leaders nationwide, the story is a reminder that funding formulas—especially those that reward enrollment counts without accounting for institutional scale—can quickly reshape student access pathways.