About INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS ADVANCING EDUCATIONAL EQUITY
No single group of institutions is more responsible for the economic, social and legal progress of our nation’s Black families than those institutions of higher education serving primarily Black students.
The legacy of HBCUs and other Primarily Black Institutions is astounding. Their history of making remarkable progress to advance equity while they, themselves, had to confront inequities has provided the nation with an unparalleled endowment.
UNCF founded the Institute for Black Colleges and Universities in 2006 to build upon this heritage of outsized impact on student success, community progress and national impact.
Pandemic. Racial reckoning. Educational inequities laid bare.
UNCF supporters showed up and IBCU stepped up, proving once again that, together, we can overcome.
Swag in Action
Snap a photo of you in your fav HBCU or PBI gear. Share it using #HBCUswag for weekly drawings of $100 to a campus bookstore.
United 2022: UNCF Summit for Black Higher Education Atlanta: June 12-16
Let’s Unite to Deliver on the Promise of Black Higher Education
The strategic, deliberate and
collaborative advocacy of the UNCF
led to historic funding levels for
our institutions, which perhaps
made the difference between
thriving and surviving.
——Dr. George T. French, Jr.,
President, Clark Atlanta UniversityINSTITUTE FOR BLACK COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Mission Statement:
We partner with Black colleges and universities to propel our shared pursuit of student success, community advancement and the fight for racial-justice equity.
A RACIAL-JUSTICE APPROACH
to institutional transformation and educational equity.
Defining racial justice
- The fair and just treatment of people of all racial identities, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone.
- Demonstrated by robust systems, structures and supports, as well as deliberate, dynamic, proactive and preventative processes—all consciously designed to right historic and social wrongs..
- Desired outcomes achieved and sustained are defined for a given racial-identity group by each respective group.
What We Do
We partner with Black colleges and universities to:
Prioritize people, processes and technologies required for providing high-quality educational experiences.
Identify sponsored, grant-funded or revenue-generating activities.
Insist on network-wide sharing of knowledge at scale.
Our Background
UNCF: An unceasing advocate and champion for institutes of Black higher education
UNCF was born out of exclusion—founded in 1944 to safeguard, through joint institutional fundraising, the only means for most Black citizens to attain a higher education. We soon became the second-largest provider of college scholarships in the nation (after the federal government) for Black and other marginalized students, further establishing ourselves as an engine of the Black middle class.
In 2006, UNCF doubled-down on supporting and expediting the transformations of our partner colleges and universities to become more sustainable and more impactful. Out of this effort grew the Institute Black Colleges and Universities.
UNCF: An unceasing advocate and champion for Black students and institutes of Black higher education
Black Colleges and Universities
Black and other marginalized students
The Institute for Black Colleges & Universities celebrates the existence and resilience of HBCUs by leading transformation strategies.
Chanel L. Fort
Director of Academic Innovation
Stillman College