HBCUs

The Payne Research Center at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund has conducted a survey with HBCU students to gauge their financial challenges and aspirations in an effort to develop initiatives aimed at improving their financial well-being and ability to build generational wealth.

“I am profoundly honored to have been chosen to lead Talladega College, an institution with a powerful legacy and boundless potential,” said Dr. Todd. "As a proud product of an HBCU and a lifelong servant of these sacred institutions, I believe the time has come to reimagine liberal arts education as a dynamic force for the future."

The newly created "Opportunity Colleges and Universities" designation from Carnegie Classifications highlights institutions that successfully enroll students that reflect the communities they serve and whose alumni go on to earn competitive wages compared to their peers.

Crystal Sanders' award-winning book, A Forgotten Migration: Black Southerners, Segregation Scholarships, and the Debt Owed to Public HBCUs, explores Black southerners' efforts to secure post-baccalaureate education during the era of legal segregation.

The University of Louisville has housed Simmons College of Kentucky's institutional archives for over 50 years. Recently the physical collection has been returned to the HBCU, where it will remain and be developed into an accessible digital archive.

“This isn’t just about a scholarship - it’s about designing systems that honor where students are coming from and set them up for long-term success,” said Tiffany Steward, vice president for enrollment management and student success at Fisk University.

"I am immensely proud of our students," said Karl Twyner, dean of humanities at Rust College. "They worked diligently to prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Through it, they gained international exposure for themselves and the college, received valuable feedback from world-class judges, and created lifelong memories."

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

JBHE has compiled a list of the graduation rates at the nation's 25 largest HBCUs by total enrollments to see how students at these schools succeed in earning a degree. Only four of the 25 HBCUs graduated at least half of their entering students within six years. The low graduation rates at many of these HBCUs is undoubtedly impacted by a long history of underfunding at these institutions.

President Trump has recently signed a new executive order to "promote excellence and innovation at historically Back colleges and universities." The order establishes the White House Initiative on HBCUs and the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs.

With over 35 years of professional experience, Dr. Orok currently serves as the inaugural director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Economic Development at Alabama A&M University.

The bipartisan coalition was formed to advance educational opportunities at Texas' HBCUs. The student group and Texas Representative Ron Reynolds have recently filed a bill with the state government that, if passed, would advance funding and educational opportunities at HBCUS in Texas.

“The Global Futures Collaborative will reimagine community agency and connection in international leadership,” said Alex Johnson, director of the new fellowship program. “Recentering ancestral and community knowledge in global exchanges will drive innovative outcomes to counter an emerging era of global retrenchment.”

The project was made possible through Getty Images' HBCU Photo Archive Grant Program. Since the initiative was launched in 2021, Getty Images has supported nine historically Black colleges and universities in digitizing and restoring fragile archival materials.

The administrative appointments have gone to Robert Pompey at Hampton University in Virginia, Lanisa Kitchiner at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Willie Jude II at Claflin University in South Carolina, and Ronald Howell, Jr. at Virginia State University.

With an extensive background in HBCU academics and administration, Dr. Scott has served as dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences at Virginia State University and as director of the Center for Health Disparities at Delaware State University.

Following a period of “extreme financial challenges,” Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon has resigned as president of Arkansas Baptist College. The HBCU's board of trustees has selected former employee George Herts to serve as interim president.

Dorsey West, a Tennessee State University alumnus, has created a new alumni giving and wealth building network to provide consistent financial support to HBCUs and the entrepreneurs they produce.

The Honda All-Star Challenge is an annual academic competition for students and faculty at historically Black colleges and universities. This year's top finisher, Hampton University, received a $100,000 grant for their win.

Howard University recently launched an online degree completion program for adult learners with some college credit to finish their bachelor's degrees. In fall 2025, the HBCU will offer two new online graduate degrees through the School of Education and the School of Divinity.