Tag Archives: endowment

The HBCU Endowment Feature – Lane College

Posted on February 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Lane_College

School Name: Lane College

Median Cost of Attendance: $14 600

Undergraduate Population: 2 002

Endowment Needed: $584 584 000

Analysis: Lane College needs approximately $585 million dollars to allow of its undergraduates to attend debt free annually. The school is located in Jackson, Tennessee and is the halfway point between Memphis and Nashville. A geographic gold mine if properly implemented into strategy. The ability to pull from two of the three major cities in Tennessee should allow for it to endear itself to prospective students who want to be away from home but still within driving distance. Being in a city that has been openly hostile to diluting the African American political power in the city could directly impact the resources available to the school. Lane College should take a more active role in influencing the policies to increase its economic absorption of local resources. Its student body comprises 4.2 percent of the voting age population in the city. While that does not sound like a large number on the national scale in small town politics that is often more than enough to create an influential voting bloc. Lane College also has the opportunity with almost 50 percent of the town’s approximately 65 000 population being African American provide a number of services to the community that would allow it to increase revenues that could grow the endowment. The college is in a prominent position to influence a large part of western Tennessee and needs to leverage its geographic advantage. Ultimately, this will allow the school to produce a donor pool that could push into the low eight figure category over the next decade and creating one of the biggest influence per endowment dollar of any liberal arts HBCU in the nation.

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The HBCU Endowment Feature – Miles College

Posted on January 14, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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School Name: Miles College

Median Cost of Attendance: $21 010

Undergraduate Population: 1 668

Endowment Needed: $700 893 600

Analysis: Miles College needs approximately $700 million to allow all of its students to attend debt free annually. Miles College is located in the heart of the capital of “Civil Rights”, Alabama or Birmingham, AL for some. This historic attachment can be leveraged for fundraising if properly used among elder African Americans. With an outstanding honors college the school is producing high quality graduates who will produce a higher median income than most of African America. This should translate with the proper cultivation from administration into consistent donations going forward. They also have the unique relationship of having an HBCU community college located within Birmingham as well. Lessening their need to develop college ready students and focus funds toward higher achievement in student development which again only adds to the quality of student they will graduate. Being located in Birmingham as with anything has its pros and cons. Birmingham is an up and coming city in the United States and should provide plenty of wealth growth through its medical and banking industries. This could produce an overall stronger city but that does not always find its way into the African American community. With the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s presence it will make the competition for city resources extremely competitive. Miles College should continue to shine and stay true to its HBCU mission and it could strongly benefit from some of its peers moving away from that mission as many in African America still looking for a true sense of community focused on themselves in higher education.

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 – Florida Memorial University

Posted on December 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

 

School Name: Florida Memorial University

Median Cost of Attendance: $22,032

Undergraduate Population: 1,771

Endowment Needed: $780,373,440

Analysis: Florida Memorial University needs approximately $780 million to allow all of its undergraduate students to attend debt free annually. Located in a city with 100,000 and 77 percent of the population of African descent the school is in an a unique spot. A city this size is the perfect college town size. It unfortunately is troubled as one of the nation’s highest violent crime areas. On paper the community is notably poorer but this could be a mistake of perception. There is a notable illicit market economy in Miami Gardens and so much of the wealth in the community is probably not on paper but is present. The school would be well served to find ways to engage some of these business leaders in the community. Florida Memorial is one of the forgotten HBCUs in Florida but has the potential with its geographic location and economic demography of the location to become a major endowment stout of HBCU if it engages the population and economic leaders in its area. It could also stand to expand its population by 15 percent to give itself an increased alumni base. The school’s current endowment sits in the $10-12 million range and could easily see it join the $25 million level within the decade with an aggressive capital campaign. One of the notable athletes in the area who does not have a college degree is LeBron James. The school could be well served to approach him and create a degree plan for him to obtain his degree in the off-season and thereby being able to engage him as a long-term donor. If they were able to obtain that relationship they could see themselves push for the $50-100 million level in a decade.

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 – Alabama State University

Posted on November 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

School Name: Alabama State University

Median Cost of Attendance: $16 604

Undergraduate Population: 4 743

Endowment Needed: $1 575 055 360

Analysis: Alabama State University needs approximately $1.5 billion for all of its undergraduate students to attend school debt free annually. The school is in direct competition with the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. A major advantage point that Alabama State University has is its geographic location in the state’s capital of Montgomery. Being near the political center of a state allows for the engaging of the lawmakers who determine state allocation of funds to the public institutions of higher education. The city’s African American population is approximately 76 000 but with the state’s overall high graduation rate at 69 percent, below the national average of 75 percent, it is not hard to imagine that the African American high school graduation rate is even more abysmal. According to the recent Schott Report the African American male high school graduation rate in Alabama is 42 percent so finding the raw numbers to increase enrollment is going to be a challenge for a state school which tend to be more heavily dependent on in-state students. However, once again being in the state capital which tend to have a strong economic presence presents an opportunity for the school to create a web of opportunities. HBCUs in the deep south face a myriad of social hurdles but especially in a state like Alabama where the University of Alabama is as beloved by the African American community despite an almost negligible presence at the university itself beyond athletics and janitors. It is a social hurdle Alabama State University must shift in order to create the demographic increase needed to be competitive in the long-term that would generate the kinds of donations needed to build a sound endowment.

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 – Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

Posted on October 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment

School Name: Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

Median Cost of Attendance: $18 227

Undergraduate Population: 1 151

Endowment Needed: $419 585 520

Analysis: The oldest HBCU in America needs approximately $420 million to send all of its undergraduates to school debt free annually. There are only two HBCUs in Pennsylvania. By sheer numbers the state of Pennsylvania has the 13th largest African American population and the city of Philadelphia has the 3rd largest African American population in the United States. This provides immense opportunity for rapid growth for Cheyney to grow its student population as a public institution. For public institutions the size of its student population is an immense driver of its endowment. In Cheyney’s case having to share the state of Pennsylvania with only one other HBCU gives it a ripe opportunity to become an aggressive recruiter by creating stronger ties with African American high schools in Pennsylvania. The grounds are ripe for Cheyney to blossom into a stalwart HBCU institution in the African American community and become a regional powerhouse in the tri-state area. It does have a headwind of not being as well known in HBCU circles as its southern counterparts but this gift and curse can give it the opportunity to not become pigeonholed and define a more aggressive course and maintain its mission and purpose to the African American community in Pennsylvania. Also dealing with an unknown situation of its current endowment makes it hard for HBCU supporters to want to lend support not knowing exactly the school’s endowment standing. A better transparency in this area could helpful. All said the opportunity to grow its endowment and influence long-term looks promising given its geographic monopoly in one of the largest concentrations of African America.

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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