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July 31, 2021

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UNCF study: 'HBCUs Make America Strong'

The United Negro College Fund recently published a study called “HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” To read the report, visit https://bit.ly/2Wijl6k.

Below is the report’s foreword by UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax.

Some of us recall a time when a high school diploma was all one needed to enter the working world and begin a productive career. That time is long gone. To reap the advantages a high school diploma used to provide, a college degree is now all but a necessity. Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has been committed to helping African American students gain that degree. We’ve assisted hundreds of thousands of talented young people on their path to and through the college of their choice; many of them historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

The report you hold in your hands — HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities — was commissioned by UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, and shows that the economic benefits of HBCUs extend to more than just the students themselves. They’re equally important to the communities, and the regions, that HBCUs have served for more than 100 years.

This landmark study, the first of its kind, sets forth those benefits in detailed, dollars-and-cents terms. It shows that money spent in, around, and by the nation’s HBCUs and their students drives economic growth on- and off-campus — and the effect of that spending is multiplied over time. Each dollar spent creates far more than a dollar’s worth of productive activity as it moves through the economy.

The study offers compelling data — for the nation as a whole, and for individual states and institutions — about the positive impacts of HBCUs on earnings, on employment and on the economy.

With a college education now so essential to Americans’ economic well-being, UNCF’s mission is as vital as it has ever been — and HBCUs continue to play a central role in that mission. These crucial institutions not only help their students build better futures, but they also contribute to economic progress throughout the country.

The message is clear: HBCUs matter — to students, employers, communities and the nation.

To read the report, visit https://bit.ly/2Wijl6k.

To learn more about HBCUs, visit https://mbnusa.biz/detail/what-is-an-hbcu.