The United Methodist Black College Fund is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Shortly after the Civil War the United Methodist Church established the Freedmen’s Aid Society which helped to establish 70 schools throughout the South. Today, 11 of the those institutions remains as operating historically Black colleges and universities.
The fund allocates relatively equal portions of its proceeds to the 11 colleges and universities. Institutions with higher enrollments receive slightly more. Every four years the schools get a fixed sum (recently $250,000 each) for capital improvements.
The United Methodist Black College Fund-supported colleges and universities include:
- Bennett College for Women, Greensboro, N.C.
- Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, Fla.
- Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C.
- Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta
- Dillard University, New Orleans, La.
- Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas
- Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.
- Paine College, Augusta, Ga.
- Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark.
- Rust College, Holly Springs, Miss.
- Wiley College, Marshall, Texas
