Directors’ Letter

UNCF: Building a Pathway of Educational Support From K-12 Through College and Career

 

 

Dear friend of UNCF,

Welcome to UNCF’s annual report for the 2019 fiscal year.

We are often asked the secrets behind UNCF’s success: 75 years and counting, more than $5 billion in contributions and 500,000 graduates from UNCF-member HBCUs with UNCF scholarships. “No secret,” we reply, “It’s all in the Annual Report.”

This year’s report is no exception. As we told a packed house in our first-ever annual address about the health and well-being of HBCUs (read “The State of the HBCUs”), ever since UNCF was founded in 1944,“HBCUs have persisted, producing educational results far beyond what would be predicted based on their size and funding.”

Another story, “A Scholarships Scoop,” reports on the second lane of UNCF’s work: the 400 scholarship, internship and fellowship programs UNCF offers each year, programs whose recipients have an average graduation rate of 70%, almost double the average rate for all African American students and significantly higher than the rate for students of all races and ethnicities.

UNCF is also active and effective in securing passage by Congress of legislation providing increased funding and flexibility for HBCUs and for low-income, first-generation college students—“Why UNCF Matters now More than Ever,” and UNCF research provides a rigorous and impactful foundation for UNCF’s advocacy of the right of every student to a K-12 education that prepares them for college and career.

Another story, “A Scholarships Scoop,” reports on the second lane of UNCF’s work: the 400 scholarship, internship and fellowship programs UNCF offers each year, programs whose recipients have an average graduation rate of  70%, almost double the average rate for all African American students and significantly higher than the rate for students of all races and ethnicities.

None of this would be possible, as this Annual Report documents, without the support and partnership of companies, like JPMorgan Chase, ExxonMobil and Coca Cola, that have been with UNCF since it was founded (read “75 Years of Schools, Students and Stewardship”); organizations like Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (read “The Enduring Power of Partnership”) and Top Ladies of Distinction (read “Volunteering to Make a Difference”) and loyal supporters like UNCF-member institution Morehouse College graduate Herbert Horner, who generously included UNCF in his estate plan (read “A Legacy Of Education”).

These are just a few of the “secrets” of UNCF’s success, and just a few of the articles in this Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report. Read this Report straight through or browse through the articles that most interest you. We hope that whether you’ve invested in UNCF’s schools and students for years, or this is the first time you’re considering helping us send students to and through college, you’ll be inspired to make UNCF’s motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”^®, your own.

Sincerely,