MacKenzie Scott Donates $70 Million to UNCF, Boosting Endowments at 37 HBCUs

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) has received a landmark $70 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, a transformative gift that will directly strengthen the long-term financial health of 37 private HBCUs.

According to a statement by UNCF, the funds will be invested in UNCF’s Members Pooled Endowment Fund, an initiative that provides collective, permanent financial support for each participating campus. With this donation, every UNCF member institution will receive a $5 million stake. Each school will then work to raise an additional $5 million in matching funds, building a $10 million endowment per institution. Managed in perpetuity, these pooled funds will provide annual distributions to support students, faculty, and campus infrastructure for decades to come.

“This extraordinary gift is a powerful vote of confidence in HBCUs and in the work of UNCF,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, UNCF president and CEO. “It provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our member institutions to build permanent assets that will support students and campuses for decades to come.”

The scale of the impact is historic. The median endowment for UNCF schools will increase by 63 percent, from $15.9 million to $25.9 million, narrowing (though not closing) the vast gap between HBCU and non-HBCU endowments, where disparities remain at 70 percent or more.

Dr. George T. French, Jr., president of Clark Atlanta University and chair of UNCF’s Institutional Members, emphasized what this means on the ground: “The pooled endowment fund is a bold idea whose time has come. Today’s gift means that our institutions will see a transformative impact on their endowments, resources that are desperately needed.”

The gift also builds on Scott’s ongoing relationship with UNCF. In 2020, she donated $10 million to its emergency reserve fund. Her new $70 million contribution, seven times larger, brings her total support to $80 million.

UNCF’s larger $1 billion capital campaign, launched in 2021, is designed to strengthen HBCUs through expanded scholarship endowments, technology investments, and operational support. With this new gift, the campaign is significantly closer to its $370 million goal for the pooled endowment.

Milton H. Jones, Jr., chair of the UNCF Board, noted that the campaign remains unfinished: “This gift allows us to demonstrate the power of collective investment in our institutions. At the same time, we must finish the work of this campaign. These efforts will build the permanent capacity our institutions need to thrive.”

For HBCUs, long recognized as engines of Black excellence and mobility despite their smaller financial bases, this gift is more than philanthropy. It’s a validation of their continued relevance and a direct investment in the future of Black students, their communities, and the legacy of these institutions.