How African American Undergraduate Students Were Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education finds that some 7.2 percent of Black undergraduates said they withdrew from their college or university during the first few months of the pandemic, more than double the rate for Whites. Another 5.6 percent of all Black undergraduates took a leave of absence, almost double the rate for Whites.
New Cornell University Fellowship Honors The First Black Student to Earn a Ph.D. in...
The Thomas Wyatt Turner Fellowship will support up to 10 graduate students from 1890 institutions, which are historically Black colleges and universities that are land-grant universities. They will spend the 2022-23 academic year on the Cornell University campus.
New Scholarship Honors the First Black Woman Graduate of Yale Divinity School
A new scholarship at Yale Divinity School honors Rena Karefa-Smart, the first Black woman to graduate from the school. Dr. Karefa-Smart was also the first Black woman to earn a theology doctorate from Harvard Divinity School and the first female professor to earn tenure at the Howard University School of Divinity.
Kevin Hart to Support the College Education of 18 KIPP Students at HBCUs
Comedian Kevin Hart has established a new $600,000 scholarship fund in conjunction with the United Negro College Fund that will support the college education of 18 students from Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools who will be attending historically Black colleges and universities.
New Report Examines The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 on Student Loan Debt for Blacks
A new study by the Center for Responsible Lending finds that women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student loan debt and Black women are more than twice as likely as White men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt.
A New $150 Million Program to Boost Graduate Education for Underrepresented Students
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the Norman and Ruth Rales Foundation recently announced CMU Rales Fellows Program is expected each year to underwrite 86 graduate students in STEM fields in perpetuity, educating thousands of research and industry leaders in the coming decades.
New Africana Studies Fellowship Created at Georgia State University
The department of Africana studies at Georgia State University has announced the establishment of the Jacqueline Rouse-Doris Derby Africana Studies Fellowship program. The program honors two women who played a significant role in the development of the Africana studies program at the university.
Racial Differences in Financial Aid Awards
At the graduate level, Whites were slightly more likely than Blacks to receive grants but the average grant to Whites was $1,900 more than the average grant to women. Nearly 11 percent of White graduate students were graduate assistants compared to 7.6 percent of Black graduate students. More than 60 percent of Black graduate students took out loans compared to 41 percent of Whites.
Coppin State University to Offer In-State Tuition Rates to Many Students From Outside Maryland
Historically Black Coppin State University in Baltimore announced new full-time undergraduate degree-seeking students admitted to the university from more than 30 states and U.S. territories outside of Maryland, will be eligible to pay in-state tuition upon enrollment. For the 2022-23 academic year, tuition at Coppin State was $6,904 for Maryland residents and $13,560 for students from outside Maryland.
New Legislation Aims to Boost Entrepreneurial Efforts of HBCU Students
Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) has introduced the Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program Act, bipartisan legislation that creates a grant program with the Small Business Administration for entrepreneurs at minority-serving institutions like historically Black colleges and universities.
Report Finds Racial Disparities in Educational Attainment and Access in the United States
Over the past 20 years, Black Americans have made significant progress in educational attainment, but racial disparities remain in certain areas of postsecondary education.
Jackson State University Announces Loan Repayment Assistance Program for Teacher Education Majors
The program promises that if an eligible student's post-graduate income is less than $45,000, LRAP will assist with repaying federal, private, and parent PLUS loans. The university states that this unique initiative is the first of its kind at a historically Black college or university.
New Program Provides Significant Aid for Minority Ph.D. Students in STEM Fields
Using a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 24 minority students at the University of Iowa will receive $40,000 scholarships over the next three years. The university will provide an additional $10,000 to the 24 students.
Football Coach at the University of Virginia Donates $50,000 to Financial Aid Program
Head football coach Mike London makes a significant contribution to the AccessUVa financial aid program.
Middlebury College Adds a Second Posse of Low-Income Students
Since 1998 Middlebury College in Vermont has been admitting and offering full-tuition scholarships to a posse of students from New York City high schools. The college is now adding a second posse from Chicago public schools.
The New Class of UNCF/Merck Science Initiative Scholars
Now in its 17th year, the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative has provided scholarships and fellowships to 627 students.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund Works With Army ROTC to Provide Scholarships in STEM Fields
Under the program, representatives of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund visited 452 high schools, community organizations, and other groups to provide information about opportunities in the Army's Reserve Officer Training Program.
The New Class of Scholars of the UNCF-Merck Science Initiative
The 2013 UNCF•MERCK Fellows in the biological sciences receive awards ranging from $25,000 for undergraduate scholarship recipients to $92,000 for recipients of postdoctoral fellowships.
After Campus Protests, the University of Cincinnati Boosts Diversity Efforts
When the University of Cincinnati's only African American dean resigned his post, students protested the lack of diversity on campus. The university has taken some steps to address the issue.
Racial Differences in Educational Debt Levels for Doctoral Students
Blacks who earned doctorates in 2012 had an average of $54,132 in debt from educational loans. Whites who earned doctorates had average educational debts of $25,992.
Racial Differences in Educational Funding for Doctoral Recipients
According to data on students who earned doctoral degrees in 2012, nearly 40 percent of African American doctoral recipients funded their education through their own resources compared to 21 percent of Whites.
Nine African Americans Awarded Truman Scholarships
This year, 59 Truman scholars were selected from 655 candidates nominated by 294 colleges and universities. Of this year's 59 Truman Scholars, it appears that nine are African Americans.
A Racial Breakdown of Financial Aid
In 1996 only 6 percent of undergraduates received merit-based grants. A decade later this percentage more than doubled.
UNCF Receives $25 Million From Conservative Group
The grant will consist of $18.5 million that will be earmarked for 3,000 merit-based scholarships for African American undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students and $6.5 million to support the United Negro College Fund and its member institutions.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation Ends Its Program for Black Students Entering College
In 1964, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation founded the National Achievement Scholarship Program for Outstanding Negro Students entering college. After 51 years that program is ending and a new program will benefit only those students who graduate from predominantly Black colleges.
The Extreme Science Scholars at Morgan State University
The Army Research Laboratory has expanded its effort to increase the number of minority students in STEM fields by creating the Extreme Science Scholar program at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Morgan State University Receives the Largest Donation in Its History
Morgan State University in Baltimore believes that the $5 million donation is the fifth largest gift by individuals to any HBCU in the nation. The money will be used for need-based scholarships for students from the City of Baltimore.
New $48 Million Scholarship Program for African Americans in STEM Fields
The Fund II Foundation of Austin, Texas, led by Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, has teamed up with the United Negro College Fund to establish a $48 million scholarship program for African Americans in STEM fields.
New College Scholarship Program to Honor Rev. Clementa Pickney
Rev. Pickney, who was a member of the state Senate in South Carolina, was murdered at the Mother A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, along with eight other parishioners. A new $3.2 million fund honoring Rev. Pickney will provide scholarships for African American college students.
New Opportunities for Minority Graduate Students at the University of Southern California
The Graduate Initiative for Diversity, Inclusion and Access aims to increase the diversity of the student body in the graduate school at the university and to broaden academic support for underrepresented minority students.
The First Cohort of the UNCF Achievement Capstone Program
In the fall of 2015, the National Merit Scholarship Program announced that it was ending its National Achievement Scholarship Program. Over the past 51 years, the program had awarded about $108 million to more than 34,000 college-bound African Americans. The replacement program will award funds to college graduates to pay off loans or for graduate study.
