The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation announced $1.76 million in emergency grants distributed to 16 historically Black colleges and universities. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting students’ ability to pay tuition, travel to and from school, and access the internet, thereby jeopardizing their continuous enrollment.
The grants aim to help the institutions stabilize enrollments for the upcoming academic year. For students, the grants address technology needs, financial strain due to tuition or residential bills, supporting essential travel between home and campus, and other necessities.
“HBCUs play an essential role in shaping the minds and futures of our nation’s talented young people,” said Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander. “As the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects underresourced institutions and communities of color, the Mellon Foundation is proud to provide focused support for students attending these vital historically black schools.”
Each of the 16 HBCUs will receive grants of $110,000. The HBCUs receiving the grants are;
Claflin University
Clark Atlanta University
Dillard University
Fisk University
Hampton University
Howard University
Johnson C. Smith University
Lincoln University of Pennsylvania
Morehouse College
Morgan State University
North Carolina A&T State University
Prairie View A&M University
Spelman College
Tougaloo College
Winston-Salem State University
Xavier University of Louisiana.
