School Name: Coppin State University
Median Cost of Attendance: $25 593
Undergraduate Population: 3 295
Endowment Needed: $1 686 545 760
Analysis: Coppin State University needs an approximately $1.7 billion endowment for all of its undergraduates to attend debt free. The university is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Coppin State University has become an orphan among stepchildren. The state of Maryland of has historically been brutal to HBCUs and it does not help that Coppin State University shares the state’s largest city with 2 other HBCUs and John Hopkins, the nation’s leading research institution. It is considered by many to be a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, it is hard to see anyone uncovering that rough so long as the school remains in Baltimore. Location seems to be harming and not helping Coppin State University. It has no room to establish an identity or expand more importantly. The school should consider a relocation to Waldorf, Maryland which is located over a hour away from Baltimore. Waldorf is the 5th largest city in the state and has a 54 percent African American population. Only Baltimore has a higher African American percentage of African Americans. This space could give Coppin State University the opportunity to recruit students in Baltimore who might want to go “away” from home without being too far. Coppin State University has been known for producing quality nurses and teachers. The problem lies in that neither of these occupations produce the high quality donors that universities need to build their endowments. Of course if it honed its nursing program on the specialties that were the top earners that would greatly help. Coppin State University badly needs to find a professional niche it can grow. No small task and one that requires understanding the lay of the land, vision, and leadership. All of which Coppin State University has been lacking for many years now. Despite many problems there is no denying that Coppin State University possesses something special it just needs the space to show what it can do.
As always it should be noted that endowments provide a myriad of subsidies to the university for everything from scholarship, faculty & administration salaries, research, and much more.
HBCU Money 