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KEY INSIGHTS
- Last month, at least 56 grants, gifts or corporate collaborations were announced, ranging from $500 to $49.8 million.
- At least three HBCUs received anonymous donations in February, totaling $600,000.
- New corporate collaborations with McDonald’s, Delta, Amazon and the NBA were also announced that will impact the future programs and skills available to HBCU students.
A new analysis by The Plug found that HBCUs received at least $113.5 million in grants and gifts in February, vastly outpacing the $64.9 million the schools received in January.
Last month, at least 56 grants, gifts or corporate collaborations were announced, ranging from $500 to $49.8 million. The largest grant went to Georgia-based Albany State University, which will use the multi-million dollar grant from the state to further its work on water conservation issues.
February also saw more anonymous donations come into HBCUs. Though not as large as the spate of secret gifts in December, Gadsden State Community College, Drake State Community and Technical College, and Shorter College each received $200,000 from an anonymous donor for scholarships. It’s unclear, however, if the contributions came from the same donor for all three schools.
HBCU sports and band programs also got a big boost in February. The PGA Tour and United Airlines teamed up to provide at least 30 HBCU golf programs with more than $500,000 in travel grants.
The men’s basketball programs at Howard University and Morgan State University are each $100,000 richer after participating in the first-ever NBA HBCU Classic during the league’s All-Star Weekend in mid-February.
But basketball games don’t just feature players — they also feature HBCU bands. McDonald’s recognized this and gave the Shaw University Platinum Sound Marching band $100,000 last month.
New corporate collaborations were also announced that will impact the future programs and skills available to HBCU students:
- Amazon Robotics is helping launch a robotics degree program at Hampton University. Through Amazon’s funding, the Virginia HBCU will establish a new research lab, a one-year faculty position, a senior capstone course and expand a K-12 STEM program.
- Hampton is also working with Delta, the first HBCU to be part of the airline’s Propel program, which will create a pipeline for students to become Delta pilots.
- Meharry Medical College students will soon be in the metaverse through the school’s new partnership with Eon Reality, which will give them virtual and augmented reality training tools.
See the full database of February HBCU funding announcements below:
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