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“Do we still need HBCUs?” is a question we’ve all encountered time and again. We can finally put that question to rest definitively thanks to a new resource from UNCF (United Negro College Fund). HBCUs are not only educational institutions—they’re powerful economic engines that fuel growth, innovation and opportunity in their communities and beyond. UNCF’s 2024 HBCU Economic Impact Report, Transforming Futures: The Economic Engine of HBCUs, underscores HBCU’s indispensable contributions to the economy and their role in shaping the future workforce. Read the report and get the facts for yourself.
Key findings in the 2024 HBCU Economic Impact Report include:
- HBCUs generate $16.5 billion in direct economic impact nationally.
- If they were a company, the nation’s HBCUs would place in the top 50 of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies in job creation.
- Collectively, 136,048 jobs exist as a result of HBCUs.
- On average, for each job created on campus, 1.5 off-campus jobs exist because of spending related to the institution.
- HBCUs are far more accessible to students and more successful at moving students from the bottom 40% of a country's income distribution to the top 60%, signaling social mobility.
- The 51,269 HBCU graduates in the class of 2021 can expect work-life earnings of $146 billion, 57% ($53 billion) more than the $93 billion they could expect without their degrees or certificates.
[Link: Read the Report]
For 80 years, UNCF has served as the nation’s leading advocate for HBCUs. This report, commissioned by UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, is a comprehensive, data-driven analysis that quantifies the phenomenal contributions that historically Black colleges and universities make to their students, local economies and the nation. [optional space for a quote, anecdote or your thoughts regarding the state of HBCUs in America]
[Link: Watch the Video]
Whether you are an alumnus, a family member of a student or a graduate or have an HBCU in your community, this report shines a light on the accomplishments these institutions help make possible, despite gross underfunding, threats of violence and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's up to all of us to raise our voices in support of HBCUs. We hope this report and video will help you hold your elected representatives at all levels of government accountable, and demand equity in education.
HBCU's Forever!
For more information, or to make your end of the year donation, please visit www.uncf.org/charlotte.
Thank you,
Tiffany L. Jones-Boyd
Area Development Director
UNCF NC Area Office
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