This fall, the nation's historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have additional funding for acquiring property, construction, campus maintenance, laboratory equipment, faculty support, student services, as authorized by the Higher Education Act, but HBCUs are still under-resourced.
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), one of the nation’s largest supporters of higher education, has issued a statement applauding the federal funding increase for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
On Monday, September 15, UNCF said in a press release that the U.S. Department of Education redirected $435 million of previous discretionary funding to HBCUs.
Lodriguez V. Murray, UNCF’s senior vice president for public policy and government affairs, said the infusion of grant funding will begin the process of strengthening HBCUs by adding fiscal stability.
The funding mechanism, called ‘Title III,’ is considered the most essential of all federal grants for HBCUs.
The additional funding will be used for acquiring property, construction, campus maintenance, laboratory equipment, faculty support, student services, and more as authorized by the Higher Education Act.
When added to the existing appropriations approved by Congress for HBCUs, the total award now stands at $1.38 billion for fiscal year 2025, a 48% increase over the previous amount.
This funding is added to the Strengthening HBCUs program, the Strengthening historically black graduate institutions program, and the HBCU master’s degree program.
No doubt about it, the back-to-school funding presents new opportunities, but HBCUs continue to face significant underfunding. The UNCF noted in its statement that HBCUs are underfunded. While the UNCF is grateful for these funds, HBCUs are still under-resourced.
UNCF hopes the private sector will see this as a prime opportunity to invest.
A leading advocate for college-bound students since 1944, UNCF has raised more than $6 billion to support students’ access to higher education, provide scholarships, and strengthen HBCUs.
Each year, UNCF awards more than 11,000 scholarships totaling more than $62 million. The scholarships support students attending more than 600 US-based colleges and universities, including 37 UNCF-member HBCUs.
Through its efforts, UNCF has helped generations of students to get to and through college.