Category Archives: Philanthropy

The HBCU Endowment Feature – Jackson State University

Posted on October 7, 2013 by | 3 comments

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School Name: Jackson State University

Median Cost of Attendance: $22 328

Undergraduate Population: 6 844

Endowment Needed: $3 056 256 640

Analysis: Jackson State University needs approximately $3 billion for all of its undergraduates to attend debt free. The university is located in Jackson, MS which is the capital and largest city in the state. Home to almost 600 000 in the metropolitan area of which almost 80 percent are African American. Despite this population domination the rest of the demographics are not as kind. African Mississippians earn $0.51 for every dollar their European Mississippians earn according to the CPRP. The university appeared in 2009 among NACUBO’s top U.S. endowments with $12 million but has since disappeared from the rankings. If the school chose not to report is uncertain or if its endowment is being left behind is another possibility. Regardless, the 2009 endowment figure would represent only 0.4 percent of the needed endowment. However, Jackson State University announced at one point plans to break ground on a $200 million stadium. An amount over sixteen times the endowment’s value, leaving questions about priorities from leadership. On flip side the school has continued to be ranked one or two among HBCUs in research expenditures the past few years. An investment that could produce long-term wealth for the university and its alumni. It could be argued an even larger investment there could expedite that process. Noting that companies like Google and others were products of university research. Jackson State University has some of the most loyal alumni and recent donations have shown they are paying close attention to the longevity of their institution and its needs. If it can muscle up the economic firepower to compete with the HWCUs in the state then it should have no problem in the state’s capital to start to dominate the political machines. A move that could ultimately shift the dynamics of power for not only Jackson State University but all other HBCUs located in the state and ultimately for African Mississippians themselves.

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.

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The HBCU Endowment Feature – Elizabeth City State University

Posted on September 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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School Name: Elizabeth City State University

Median Cost of Attendance: $18 786

Undergraduate Population: 2 760

Endowment Needed: $1 036 972 320

Analysis: Elizabeth City State University needs approximately a $1 billion endowment for all of its undergraduates to attend debt free. The university is located in the northeast part of North Carolina. In a state with an abundance of higher education institutions it can be extremely difficult to standout. It also does not help that ECSU is not on the HBCU “corridor” of I-85/I-95 going through the states of North Carolina and Virginia. The northeast part of North Carolina is a more isolated geography of the state. As in most cases like this there is a bit of the gift and the curse attached to such a reality. By being isolated it can have an intimate advantage in recruitment in the northeast part of North Carolina and very rural parts of southeastern Virginia. The disadvantage of course is beyond those areas it will have a difficult time not being in the HBCU corridor, and therefore will have a hard time getting students outside of its most intimate regions. A cause for concern given the drop in enrollment the school has seen lately. As noted with public university endowments, the size of the alumni base is a mixture of student body size and graduation rates. This formula plays an integral role in the health of the endowment. A declining student body size is a danger to the long term financial stability of a college’s endowment primarily because historically only 10-15 percent of alumni give back nationally. The number is even smaller among HBCUs. Currently, Elizabeth City State University is reported to have a $4.5 million endowment or equal to 0.45 percent of its needed endowment. A serious red flag for long-term stability which lends to some of the issues of the school’s current financial issues. The school has an opportunity to reduce itself down to a healthier size that could allow it could to obtain the financial health it needs to potentially grow at a more steadied pace. It also much find a way to infuse itself along the state’s coastline African American population. The real question is will that be enough. Ideally, ECSU needs to have a student body at least triple its current size if it wants to seriously expand its alumni base within the coming decade.  It is clear they are going to have to pick up the pace of their endowment and capital campaigning to survive tomorrow, otherwise we could be seeing some of the turmoil in Virginia spillover into North Carolina with Elizabeth City State University potentially being the first casualty.

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.

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The HBCU Endowment Feature – Albany State University

Posted on August 26, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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School Name: Albany State University

Median Cost of Attendance: $17 982

Undergraduate Population: 4 187

Endowment Needed: $1 505 812 640

Analysis: Albany State University needs approximately an endowment of $1.5 billion for all of its undergraduates to attend debt free. It is located in Georgia’s eighth largest city which boast a population of almost 80 000 according to the last census. Albany is also a city where the African American population comprises over 70 percent of the population. The school’s current endowment is only 1 percent of the needed endowment. This is a note of concern given Albany State University has the second highest reported student loan debt per graduates in the SIAC and 90 percent of their graduates have some sort of student loan debt. The 90 percent is actually in line with the HBCU average, but still 35 percent above the national average. Being located in the southwestern part of Georgia gives the school geographic advantage to the panhandle of Florida for recruitment opportunities. Opportunities abound for Albany State University, but key to them will be finding a way to get alumni connected in such a way that their endowment is doubling every year for the next ten years. Otherwise, they will continue to be on the list of schools to watch and we have already seen in Georgia that merger talk is never far away.

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.

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The HBCU Endowment Feature – University of Arkansas at Pine-Bluff

Posted on August 12, 2013 by | 1 comment

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School Name: University of Arkansas at Pine-Bluff

Median Cost of Attendance: $16 554

Undergraduate Population: 3 283

Endowment Needed: $1 086 935 680

Analysis: The University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff needs approximately a $1.1 billion endowment for all of its undergraduates to attend debt free. Located in Pine-Bluff, Arkansas which has the ninth largest population in the state. The school is located in a predominantly African American city but the last census shows over a 10 percent decline in the population over the past decade. A disturbing trend given that college towns on the rise tend to see a boom in their population and property values. They are also located only 45 minutes from Little Rock (pop. 200 000) which has a more than 40 percent African American population and less than 3 hours to Texarkana (pop. 143 000) which has more than 40 percent African American population as well. This triangle formation gives the University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff a strong base from which to start its growth and hopefully dominate the recruitment in the area. The university needs to at least double in size if not triple which could be extremely difficult to do given the demographic hurdles it would be facing. None the less rapid growth is needed in order to start to increase its probability of producing high quality donors. Currently, the school is not even at 2/1000th of its current to needed endowment ratio. The current endowment is of grave concern. Its primary competition is the University of Arkansas which is over 6 times its size but has an endowment almost 500 times its size. This leaves UAPB vulnerable in any resource battles within the state and region. They have a lot of work to do to improve their current endowment situation and make it competitive. If they do not address the issue they could be endangering their long-term viability.

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.

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The HBCU Endowment Feature – Johnson C. Smith University

Posted on July 29, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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School Name: Johnson C. Smith University

Median Cost of Attendance: $25 862

Undergraduate Population: 1 543

Endowment Needed: $798 101 280

Analysis: Johnson C. Smith University needs approximately $800 million for all of its undergraduates to attend debt-free annually. The university is located in Charlotte, NC. North Carolina is a crowded region of colleges and universities and at times can be both a gift and curse. In such a crowded area it can be hard to stand out and recruit top tier academic talent but there is an appeal to high school students wanting to gravitate toward multi-college hubs. Johnson C. Smith has the current distinction of leading the CIAA with the highest student debt loads among graduates. A distinction that does not bode well for generating future alumni donations and should be an imperative for JCSU leadership to address. US News reports that Johnson C. Smith’s endowment is currently $50 million which makes it one-sixteenth of the needed endowment. One of the highest current to needed endowment ratios of all HBCUs which shows of development strength. The university is well on its way into the $100 million club at its current clip. Given its large initiative in the STEM field mixed with its liberal arts atmosphere has the opportunity to produce an unique graduate that will be in high demand among graduate schools and employers. This could be quite beneficial with North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park right up the road and could pay huge dividends in producing high quality donors in the coming generation. The connection to the Duke Endowment is certainly a strong assistance for its growth. Ultimately, this is one of the few HBCUs whose endowment outlook appears quite stable. The question is whether it can move into a next gear and grow and expand its clout in one of the most important economic centers in the south for African America is yet to be seen. If it addresses the student loan debt concerns and push its population towards 4 000 students it has a real chance to break into the upper echelons of HBCU endowments. Regardless, Johnson C. Smith University is an HBCU with an endowment that should allow for the institution to see success for generations to come.

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.

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