An Inflection Point Comes for Historically Black Colleges: Will Funders Step Up?

Both Spelman College and Bennett College—the nation’s sole all-female historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)—made headlines this past week. Spelman was gifted $30 million, one of the largest donations ever made to an HBCU, from trustee Ronda Stryker and her husband William Johnston to help build a new Center for Innovation and the Arts. In contrast, Bennett College was informed that its accreditation—essential for accepting federal funds that cover tuition and fees—would be revoked because of financial shortfalls.

Financial struggles are nothing new for HBCUs, with at least six closing since 1988. The 18 historically black public land grant institutions (e.g., North Carolina A&T and Tuskegee) have historically received unequal funding from their states compared to their white land grant counterparts and struggled (mostly unsuccessfully) to make the required 100 percent match for full federal funding.