Foundation funding of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is still orders of magnitude less than foundation funding of Ivy League institutions, a disparity that was the focus of a recent study and could receive even more attention in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling ending decades of affirmative action.
Following the racial justice protests of 2020, HBCUs received gifts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars from MacKenzie Scott and other philanthropists that proved transformational in a few instances. However, the gifts have yet to make a significant dent in the overall pre-2020 funding gap. Ivy League schools received 178 times more foundation funding than the average HBCU during the preceding five-year period, according to researchers who examined the issue.
Data show $5.5 billion was awarded to the nation’s eight Ivy League colleges versus $303 million to the nation’s approximately 100 HBCUs from 2015 through 2019. Data also show HBCUs received less foundation funding than other institutions during that span, averaging about two-thirds ($620,073) of the $968,988 received by predominantly white non-Ivy League colleges — a far lesser but still significant gap.
The findings are detailed in a joint 64-page report, Philanthropy and HBCUs, released recently by philanthropy research organization Candid and the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE). Researchers undertook the joint study by comparing the foundation dollars awarded to accredited HBCUs with foundation dollars given to Ivy League colleges and other schools over a span of nearly two decades.
Susan Taylor Batten, ABFE’s president and CEO, said researchers weren’t surprised by the funding disparity per se but were taken aback by its scale. “Philanthropy generally funds Black-led nonprofit organizations disproportionately less than other similarly situated organizations,” she said.
HBCUs were once the only higher education option for most Black students and still play a disproportionate role in educating Black students despite the funding disparity. HBCUs today account for 3% of all colleges and universities but 13% of all bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black students in the United States, according to the authors. HBCU alumni also account for 80% of Black judges, 50% of Black doctors and 50% of Black lawyers in the United States, according to data from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).
Many HBCUs benefited from receiving a new look by foundation leaders following the post-George Floyd reckoning over racial injustice. Foundation grants to HBCUs soared more than fivefold during 2019-2020, from $45 million to $249 million – a 453% increase. However, many worry the increased funding will be short-lived and that HBCUs will remain underfunded relative to other institutions.
The worry is based partly on the fact that annual foundation funding of HBCUs actually declined during the previous 18-year period from $65 million (2002) to $45 million (2019), amounting to a 30% reduction even as foundations were increasing overall levels of giving to other causes. The decrease was more than 50% when adjusted for inflation, according to the authors. However, not all HBCUs were equally impacted.
“Among HBCUs, there were clear ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ when it came to philanthropic support,” the authors write. Other key findings from the most recent five-year period (2015-2019) studied include the following:
- The top five funded HBCUs were Johnson C. Smith University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Howard University.
- Together the top five funded schools garnered 38% of all philanthropic support to HBCUs.
- The top 10 funded schools garnered more than half (52%) of all philanthropic support to HBCUs.
- The top foundation donors to HBCUs were The Duke Endowment ($32.5 million), Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ($17.3 million) and Coca-Cola Foundation ($16.8 million).
- Private HBCUs received more than double the total foundation dollars awarded to public HBCUs.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action will likely result in even more Black students turning to HBCUs for their college education, said UNCF President and CEO Michael Lomax. “HBCUs built Black America’s middle class, and UNCF scholarships have helped students pay for their college degrees and move upward economically,” he said.
Foundation leaders, who have become more attuned to issues of racial equity, can use this as an opportunity to deepen their collaboration with HBCUs and approach relationship-building more intentionally. The authors recommend HBCU leaders and their supporters take greater initiative in pursuing these relationships as well. “Philanthropy is a relational sector, and funding opportunities emerge through connections,” they write.
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