Strength can be found in numbers, and we have proven that to be true. Thank you for helping us get the FUTURE Act passed by Congress and signed into law!

The FUTURE Act passed both the House and the Senate on December 10, 2019, and was signed into law on December 19, 2019, providing mandatory funding for HBCUs PERMANENTLY! Over 62,000 letters were sent and over 2,000 phone calls made resulting in a total of over 65,000 actions in support of this bill! Your advocacy played a key role in securing this funding and, for that, we THANK YOU!

Congress introduced the FUTURE Act to save the future of STEM education at our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The FUTURE Act not only extends vital funding from the federal government for HBCUs but also extends funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to help them also offer quality academic programs in the STEM fields.

Education is the key to all success in the United States and HBCUs punch well above their weight not only in their impact on their local communities but also in their states by ensuring that low-income, first generation college students are prepared to succeed. According to an economic impact report produced by UNCF, the impact of HBCUs on their regional economies included an employment impact of 134,090 jobs; a work-life earnings of $130 billion for HBCU students; and a total economic impact of $14.8 billion.

Furthermore, HBCUs represent 8.5% of the four-year institutions across the 21 states and territories they are located in. Of these states and territories, HBCUs enroll, on average, 24% of all black undergraduates pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a college or university; graduate 26% of all black bachelor’s degree recipients; and award 32% of STEM degrees to black students. In fact, across the entire country, HBCUs enroll 10% of the black undergraduates, produce 17% of all black college graduates with bachelor’s degrees and graduate 21% of black students with bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields.

HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs and other MSIs collectively serve over six million students, accounting for more than one-quarter of all undergraduates and a large share of all students of color. Funding for these programs expired on September 30, 2019. Because of this, these institutions temporarily lost access to an annual funding amount of $255 million dollars. The House of Representatives (House) passed the first version of the FUTURE Act on September 17, 2019 to save our institutions from experiencing a lapse in funding. The Senate amended the bill and passed it on December 5, 2019, leaving it up to the House to repass the amended version. Instead of passing the amended version by the Senate, the House introduced a new version of the FUTURE Act and both the House and Senate passed this bill on December 10, 2019. This bill was signed into law on December 19, 2019 extending mandatory funding for HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, and other MSIs PERMANENTLY!

Thank You

The FUTURE Act has now been signed into law.

This work is crucial.
Please support UNCF.

For more than 75 years, we’ve awarded student scholarships, provided financial support to HBCUs and served as the nation’s leading advocate for the importance of minority education and community engagement. We’ve helped more than 500,000 students not just gain access to college, but thrive, graduate and become leaders. However, we can only support one out of every 10 students who apply for assistance. Your generous tax-deductible gift can help to encourage students who are pursuing their degrees.