A new report shows HBCUs have had a significant impact on the economy but remain underfunded . Today, the United Negro College Fund published its 2024 HBCU Economic Impact Report, Transforming Futures: The Economic Engine of HBCUs . It featured data on the funds needed for HBCUs to operate, as well as their impact.
HBCUs generate a whopping $16.5 billion per year in national economic impact, according to the report . On top of that, they’ve helped create 136,048 jobs, a number that exceeds companies like Dell and Intel. The report likened that figure to companies featured in the Fortune 50. The report notes that each $1 million that’s spent by an HBCU and its students leads to 12 jobs.
“HBCUs are big players economically for the local, city and region where they’re located, as well as the state and collectively throughout the country, when you can showcase the total economic impact of an institution, when you can showcase the lifetime earnings of one class per institution,” Lodriguez Murray, the senior vice president for public policy and government affairs at UNCF, told The Hill . “When you can showcase the total number of jobs that are impacted per institution, you no longer are looking at these institutions in an anecdotal way, but as economic engines.”
Many of the country’s 101 HBCUs were founded after the Civil War. They were founded to offer Black Americans a higher education during segregation and as laws prevented them from learning how to read and write.
“Historically Black colleges and universities have been underfunded since their inception, and all you have to do is look at how they were founded,” Murray said. “And then, like African Americans themselves and many African American institutions, it has been much harder for them to garner resources and capital.”
“Financial institutions often viewed individual African Americans and African American institutions as a higher risk for lending, and so getting access to capital has been a chore for these institutions,” he added.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Education notified 16 governors of a $12 billion disparity in funding between land-grant HBCUs and non-HBCU land-grant institutions.
“Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities to operate with inadequate resources and delay critical investments in everything from campus infrastructure to research and development to student support services,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a press release .
He continued, “I am continually inspired by all that HBCUs have achieved despite having to punch above their weight. Our HBCUs graduate a huge share of our nation’s Black educators, doctors, engineers, judges, and lawyers. These institutions and the talented, diverse students they serve must have equitable funding in order to reach their full potential and continue driving innovation. The Biden-Harris Administration is proud to have made record investments in our HBCUs, but to compete in the 21st century we need state leaders to step up and live up to their legally required obligations to our historically Black land-grant institutions.”
According to The Hill, the Biden-Harris administration has invested over $1 billion in HBCUs across the U.S. Still, these institutions require additional funding to address threats of violence. Since January 2022, 51 HBCUs have received 76 bomb threats — causing major disruptions like school closures and shelter-in-place orders. In addition, resources get diverted toward campus safety.
“While we share similarities with other colleges and universities—indeed threats of violence may occur at any number of colleges—the truth is, unlike our counterparts, we have been routinely underfunded for years, which has led to deferred maintenance and deficiencies in our infrastructure. In short, our institutions need capacity-building resources for preparedness, mitigation and prevention,” Jackson State University President Thomas K. Hudson said in a Congressional hearing in early 2022, per the report .
Murray believes the report highlights the enduring strength of HBCUs and its students.
“For far too long, we’ve allowed the narrative that HBCUs are without to reign,” he told The Hill. “It is now time to speak to the strength of our students, the strength of our graduates, and allow these institutions to be seen for the great cathedrals in higher education that they always have been.”
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