New UNCF Report Finds That HBCUs Stlll Need Additional Funding Support

A new report from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) finds that despite the influx from the past two years of federal government funding and private donations to the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, it has not been enough to make up for decades of neglect.

The federal government allocated more than $6.5 billion to 101 HBCUs over the past two years, and private donors have significantly stepped up their giving. For example, philanthropist Mackenzie Scott donated hundreds of millions dollars to a large group of HBCUs in 2020 (See JBHE post.) As a result of increased funding, HBCUs gained a renewed sense of optimism and hard-won resilience

But Lodriguez Murray, senior vice president for public policy and government affairs at the UNCF, argues that more needs to be done to insure the financial stability of the nation’s HBCUs. He stated that “thanks to the massive influx of funding and private donations, HBCUs entered 2022 in a much stronger position than before the start of the pandemic. HBCUs now run the risk of losing out on funding from stakeholders who may erroneously believe the need has lessened.”

The study by the UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute found that nearly two-thirds of the UNCF members schools indicated they had more than $5 million in deferred maintenance. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, public HBCUs, on average, have total deferred maintenance of more than $60 million.

The report found endowments at UNCF member schools currently trail those of other institutions by at least 70 percent. The Government Accountability Office study found HBCUs have an average of $15,000 in endowment per student, compared with $410,000 in endowment per student at comparable non-HBCUs.

The full report, Greater Funding, Greater Needs: A Report on Funding for HBCUs, may be downloaded here.