By Blue Meridian Partners for BlueMeridian.org

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund, United Negro College Fund, and Partnership for Education Advancement have announced the launch of a collaborative effort to drive tangible, long-term progress across historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and boost the Black economy.

With an initial $60 million commitment from the funding collaborative Blue Meridian Partners, the HBCU Transformation Project aims to increase HBCU health and sustainability, improve student outcomes in retention and graduation rates, expand enrollment, and bolster capacity building with faculty and staff. To that end, the coalition will provide flexible support and focus resources on the highest priorities at each institution, including support for institutional and intermediary capacity building, efforts to increase public funding for HBCUs, private capital campaigns for endowments and sustainable reserves, community and regional economic development partnerships, and a reorientation of the narratives surrounding HBCUs toward their outsized impact on social and economic mobility outcomes.

“UNCF and Thurgood Marshall College Fund have worked together for many years, and this collaboration is a continuation of our efforts to amplify support for the needs of HBCUs and the students they serve,” said UNCF president and CEO Michael L. Lomax. “Blue Meridian Partners’ support is very important and will significantly enhance the HBCU innovation and transformation work that UNCF’s Institute Capacity Building team has been pioneering for nearly two decades. This high-profile campaign will make the case to donors and to the government to elevate the profile of HBCUs and raise the support they deserve.”