As the academic year launches in earnest for 2019-2020, UNCF (United Negro College Fund) has announced it is providing approximately $90 million in funding this year through more than 10,000 individual scholarship awards to both undergraduate and graduate students across almost 400 programs, internships and fellowships. Last year a similar level of support went to more than 7,200 students attending more than 1,100 colleges and universities, including most historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), throughout the U.S. UNCF is the largest provider of college scholarship funds and educational programs for students of color across the United States.
“None of our funding is provided by the government, and all is raised each year by our dedicated, hard-working fundraisers and UNCF volunteers,” said Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., UNCF president and CEO. “We are able to touch the lives of so many talented and deserving students across the nation because we deliver on what we promise: a better future for all Americans by supporting HBCUs and their students.”
UNCF’s national impact—75 years of student and HBCU support and securing more than $5 billion in donations—is made possible through thousands of private donations, large and small, from individuals, corporations, foundations and other partners across the spectrum of philanthropy. Top corporations, foundations, such as Lilly Endowment, Charles Koch and Fund II, and well-known supporters including Kevin Hart and Janet Jackson all have underwritten UNCF scholarships. The scholarships donors create are then administered by a small UNCF team dedicated to providing start-to-finish support that delivers vital learning experiences and ensuring high college graduation rates.
That dedication pays off: UNCF African American scholarship recipients earn college degrees at substantially higher rates than their African American counterparts who don’t receive help from UNCF—70% to 41%.
“This is a story we need to tell, and often goes unnoticed. Our Scholarships and Programs department focuses on our scholarship recipients so that they receive the vital support they need to succeed as college students,” said Larry Griffith, senior vice president, programs and student services, UNCF. “Student success is the ultimate dividend paid to all the donors who make our work possible.”
Lomax added, “While we have such great support from our current scholarship donors, there is always a funding gap. For every 10 students who ask us for help, we are only able to fund one of them, leaving the other nine talented scholars looking for ways to finance their college education. UNCF always needs new donors and scholarship opportunities.”
For more information on UNCF’s scholarship unit, to fund a scholarship or learn more about student achievement, please visit UNCF.org/scholarships. Follow UNCF on social media @UNCF #UNCF.
About UNCF
UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 21 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”® Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.
