African Americans and Pell Grant Student Success
The federal government spends more than $30 billion each year on the Pell Grant program, which benefits well more than half of all Black students enrolled in undergraduate programs. But are colleges and universities doing a good job in graduating Pell Grant students?
How Student Loan Debt Impacts the Racial Wealth Gap Years After Students Complete College
The study of nearly 1,500 young adults, led by a professor of social work at the University of Illinois, found that Black and Hispanic students who had accumulated student loan debt during their college years had, at age 30, $36,000 less in net worth than their peers who did not have student loan debt.
University of Massachusetts’ New Fellows Program Aims to Boost Diversity in Its Graduate School
The Spaulding-Smith STEM Fellowship Program is named for Major Franklin Spaulding, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, and Elizabeth Hight Smith, who in 1905, was the first woman to earn a graduate degree at the university.
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.
Indiana University Establishes the Black Philanthropy Circle
The Black Philanthropy Circle will establish programs to improve the recruitment, retention and degree attainment for Black students, faculty and staff on all of Indiana University's campuses.
Educate Black America Launches a New Product Line to Support Scholarship Fund
ABC Ventures has announced its first product in the Educate Black America sportswear and accessories line, the "Educate Black America" cap.
New Scholarships for Mississippi State Engineering Students From Underrepresented Groups
Southern Company, one of the leading energy companies in the country, has made a gift to Mississippi State University that will help students from underrepresented groups pursue an engineering degree at the university's James Worth Bagley College of Engineering.
The First Cohort of E.E. Just Postgraduate Fellowships in the Life Sciences
Bianca Marlin is a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Columbia University in New York City and Elizabeth Ransey is postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Survey Examines Racial Differences in Who Pays for College
A survey conducted for LendEDU examines the percentages of college students who pay for all or some of their education. In what may come as a surprise to many readers, when the data was broken down by race, there are only small differences between Blacks and Whites.
University of Maryland Baltimore County to Expand Meyerhoff Scholars Program to California
The Meyerhoff Scholars program is recognized as one of the most effective models in the country to help inspire, recruit, and retain underrepresented students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM disciplines.
Black Billionaire to Pay Off Student Loan Debt of Morehouse College’s Class of 2019
Robert F. Smith, a billionaire who is CEO of Vista Equity Partners, told the graduates of Morehouse College in Atlanta that he would commit up to $40 million dollars to eliminate the student debt of all 396 graduates of the Class of 2019.
University Looks to Address the Shortage of Teachers From Underrepresented Groups
The University of North Florida in Jacksonville has introduced the Holmes Scholarship program with the aim to increase the number of teachers from underrepresented groups who, in return for financial aid, commit to serving in the local public schools.
University of Kentucky Alumnus Establishes Scholarship Fund for African Students
Esias Bedingar, a native French speaker, came to the University of Kentucky in 2014. He knew no English, but he went on to complete the English as a Second Language program in just one semester. He graduated in May 2018 with a bachelor's degree in public health.
UNCF and Partners Establish Loan Forgiveness Program for Black Students
The program will provide $1,000,000 in financial aid debt relief over three years to current students or graduates of HBCUs and other four-year accredited universities.
New Report Offers Data on Race/Ethnicity of Pell Grant Recipients
Federal Pell grants are financial awards provided to undergraduate students who demonstrate significant financial need. More than 57 percent of African American undergraduate students received a federal Pell grant in the 2015-16 academic year. For White students, 31.3 percent of all undergraduates received a Pell grant.
Federal Reserve Study Shows High Student Loan Default Rates in Black Neighborhoods
A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that student loan borrowers from zip codes that are primarily Black are twice as likely to be in default as borrowers from zip codes that are primarily White.
New Scholarships at the University of Pennsylvania Seek to Boost Diversity in City Planning
The department of city and regional planning in the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania has established the Moelis Scholars program that is open to African American and Latinx students who are thinking about pursuing careers in housing and community and economic development.
African American Woman Endows Scholarship for Black Students at Oxford University
Arlan Hamilton is the founder and managing partner of California-based Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT.
American University to Offer Free Ride to 10 District of Columbia Students Each Year
American university recently announced that its District Scholars Award program will provide full scholarships for high-achieving students with financial need who graduate from the city's public and charter high schools. Blacks make up 68 percent of the enrollments in the city's public schools.
New Scholarships for Underrepresented Graduate Students at New York University
The Steinhardt Graduate School at New York University has announced a new scholarship program aimed at increasing diversity among graduate students. The scholarships will be need-based but with a merit component and will be geared toward students from underrepresented groups.
Synovus Financial Sets Up UNCF Scholarship Fund to Honor Calvin Smyre
Calvin Smyre, a graduate of Fort Valley State University in Georgia, was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1974. He is the longest-serving member of that legislative body.
Syracuse University Creates a Scholarship to Honor a Former Performing Arts Scholar
The Felix E. Cochren Jr. Memorial Scholarship intends to promote a more diverse student body in the drama department by providing scholarship and financial assistance to current students who are underrepresented in the program.
New Scholarship Program to Train the Next Generation of Civil Rights Attorneys
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. has launched the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program, which aims to support the education and training of 50 aspiring civil rights lawyers over the next 20 years. In return for a full scholarship, students must agree to practice civil rights law in the South for at least eight years.
PepsiCo Foundation Commits $40 Million to Support Higher Education for Blacks and Hispanics
The new program funded by the PepsiCo Foundation is comprised of two types of scholarships – Uplift Scholarships for students seeking two-year associate degrees or trade certificates and S.M.I.L.E (Success Matters in Life & Education) scholarships for community college graduates transitioning to four-year colleges.
Target to Provide Scholarships for 1,000 Black Students at HBCUs Through the UNCF
Target, the retail giant, will make higher education more affordable this fall for 1,000 first-year Black students at more than a dozen public and private historically Black colleges and universities through need-based scholarships of up to $5,000.
Virginia State University to Pay Full Tuition of Local Pell Grant-Eligible Students
To qualify, students must be Pell Grant eligible, meet the university admission requirements, and live within a 25-mile radius of campus. This initiative provides qualified students, who have limited financial resources, the option to attend a four-year university directly out of high school.
J.P. Morgan and the UNCF Introduce New Scholarship Program for Students at HBCUs
The program will provide scholarships and mentorships to students attending one of 11 HBCUs across the U.S. and help them develop the skills they need to grow a career as a financial advisor. Each year 75 students at HBCUs will receive scholarships and will be eligible for summer internship programs.
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.
Visa Announces the First Cohort of Its Black Scholars and Jobs Program
In addition to financial assistance, Visa Black Scholars will work with mentors from the company, receive year-round programming and training aimed at developing their professional and technical skills, and will also be provided opportunities for paid internships. Those who meet program requirements will be invited to join Visa full-time after graduation.
Students at 35 HBCUs Can Receive Full-Tuition Scholarships at Suffolk University Law School
The scholarship is named for Thaddeus Alexander Kitchener, who was the first student of color to graduate from Suffolk Law. Originally from Jamaica, Kitchener graduated in 1913. Before being accepted at Suffolk Law, Kitchener was working as a janitor at what is now Simmons University in Boston. After law school, Kitchener continued to work as a janitor until at least 1918.
New Cornell University Fellowship for Students From Francophone Africa
Awards are for one year of study in the Cornell Law School LLM program or the Global Development program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The fellow receives a $20,000 stipend and a college tuition waiver. David Arnaud Ngam à Kibeng from Cameroon is the inaugural fellow.
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.
Once Again, Robert Smith Takes a Major Step to Help Blacks in Higher Education
Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, announced a gift of $15 million to the College of Engineering at Cornell University. The funds will be used to establish an endowed scholarship fund to provide financial aid for Cornell engineering students from urban high schools and graduates of HBCUs.
A $100 Million Gift to Boost Enrollments of Underrepresented Students at Loyola University
Loyola University Chicago received a $100 million gift to fund full scholarships, room and board, and an array of comprehensive support services for aspiring Black, Latino, first-generation, and other ethnically and racially diverse students who are historically underrepresented in higher education.
Many African American Families Are Struggling to Pay Back Parent PLUS Loans
In the month they were surveyed, 37 percent of Black parent-borrowers said they expected to be unable to make a partial payment on their student loan bills, compared to 20 percent for all other groups.
