HBCU: Research & Policy Institute

According to its formation documents, the HBCU Research and Policy Institute (the “Corporation”) is organized exclusively to promote cultural, educational, professional, social, and charitable purposes at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (“HBCUs”). The Corporation serves to support both HBCUs, their students through programming aimed at advancing the overall HBCU experience. In doing so, the Corporation will support leadership and  entrepreneurship among students, provide students with access to career opportunities, combat disparities and barriers of growth experienced by HBCUs, and provide financial support directly to HBCU students in their pursuit of higher education. All of the Corporation’s time is allocated to these activities, and the activities are funded by a mixture of donations and grants. 

The Corporation will support leadership and entrepreneurial development on HBCU campuses through educational programming. The Corporation believes that HBCUs are vital to cultivating the next generation of professionals and community leaders of color. To further this important belief, the Corporation will organize, promote, and present leadership workshops providing HBCU students with educational opportunities to learn and develop important leadership and entrepreneurial skills. In addition to the workshops, the Corporation will also organize and hold pitch competitions and debates allowing students to utilize the skills learned through the programming. The Corporation will provide this free programing to any HBCU student who wishes to participate and will reward educational scholarships to the top performers in the debates and pitch competitions.

The Corporation will also address access to employment opportunities through its career development programming. Recognizing that HBCUs are home to many talented students, the Corporation will organize and hold at least one annual career fair on each campus of participating HBCUs. In collaboration with participating HBCUs, the Corporation will organize, promote, and host events on the campuses of each participating HBCU. The Corporation will invite national and local employers within high-skilled sectors to participate and will allow students who attend the event the opportunity to match and meet with those prospective employers. Through the career development programming, students who participate will not only receive exposure to a variety of high-skilled career fields but also have the opportunity to secure potential internships and offers of future employment.

The Corporation will combat the infrastructure, financial and resource disparities experienced by HBCUs. Historically, facilities have been underfunded with deteriorating research and collaborative spaces. The Corporation seeks to provide investment in experiential classrooms. The Corporation with address the challenged size of endowments at HBCUs that are one-eighth the average size of endowments at predominantly-white institutions. With HBCUs being known for providing affordable education to millions of students of color, the need for consistent funding and access to quality resources is vital to providing a quality education experience at HBCUs. This program will focus its effort mainly in the areas of scaling endowments, establishing online degree programs, and facilitating the collaboration and sharing of resources between participating HBCUs. Through this free programming, the Corporation will work with participating HBCUs to improve the overall health and capacity of their endowments and provide those HBCUs with the necessary infrastructure to both establish and sustain online degree programs and promote the sharing of ideas and resources among the other participating HBCUs.

Lastly, the Corporation will provide financial support directly to HBCU students in their pursuit of higher education through its scholarship fund programming. Recognizing that many students who attend HBCUs often have access to limited financial support outside of federal loan assistance, the Corporation will collect funds and administer scholarships to students enrolled at participating HBCUs through its scholarship programming. The programming will identify applicants using a variety of metrics and provide scholarships to the most deserving students. By making scholarships available to HBCU students, the Corporation will alleviate the financial burden and stress associated with pursuing higher education.