School Name: Dillard University
Median Cost of Attendance: $27 436
Undergraduate Population: 1 249
Endowment Needed: $685 351 280
Analysis: Dillard University needs approximately $700 million to allow all of its students to attend the university debt free annually. The university now under new leadership will be looking to aggressively grow its community presence in New Orleans and its student population. According to US News, the university currently has approximately a $55 million endowment which is an extremely healthy endowment for its population size. It is safe to assume the population growth could push Dillard into the $100 million conversation within 10 years. This could be especially true given the number of alumni Dillard sends into the medical field which should benefit them greatly as the baby boomers move into retirement. Although they are a private school there will certainly be political pressures on even private HBCUs in Louisiana which will be something to keep an eye on. Overall, Dillard is an endowment to watch and should remain a strong presence in the top ten HBCU endowments.
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 