School Name: Mississippi Valley State University
Median Cost of Attendance: $12 872
Undergraduate Population: 2 090
Endowment Needed: $538 049 600
Analysis: Mississippi Valley State University needs an endowment of approximately $540 million for all of its undergraduates to attend debt free. The university is located in Itta Bena, Mississippi which is part of the Greenwood Micropolitan area and has a population of almost 50 000 with over 60 percent of the population being African American. Like all public HBCUs located in Mississippi its income demographics push against the school building a stout endowment. African Mississipians have one of the lowest median incomes in the nation. It has the lowest endowment need of all of the public HBCUs in Mississippi, but it also has the reported lowest current endowment. Despite having access to Jerry Rice’s millions the school has seemingly been unable to garner a large donation commitment from the former alum. The school boast one of the most affordable options in the state and begs the question why its undergraduate population is not more in line with the other two public HBCUs. Population growth is badly needed to deal with the low percentage of alumni giving that all HBCUs face. The university has gotten rid of out of state tuition, which should make it a more favorable destination for surrounding state prospects if it can leverage it. There is much work done to create a healthy endowment for Mississippi Valley State University and while it seems to have the tools at its disposal, it remains to be seen if there will be a strategy implemented to take advantage of them.
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 