Greater Funding, Great Needs: A Report on Funding for HBCUs

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have distinguished themselves over the past two years in the face of uncertainty and difficulty. They innovated to embrace remote learning and redirected funds to provide their students with much-needed support. And they received an outpouring of funding; the federal government has allocated more than $6.5 billion to HBCUs over the past two years, and private donors have significantly stepped up their giving. As a result, HBCUs have gained a renewed sense of optimism and hard-won resilience.That said, the structural fiscal challenges HBCUs faced before the pandemic remain. To gain a better understanding of their needs, we surveyed our member institutions. The findings presented in this report make a compelling case for increased funding to support the long-standing needs of HBCUs and to enable these institutions to fulfill their missions.