The average historically Black college and university received 178 times less funding from foundations than the average Ivy League school in 2019, according to a new report on the underfunding of HBCUs released Tuesday. The study — conducted by the philanthropic research group Candid and ABFE, a nonprofit that advocates for investments in Black communities – found that the eight Ivy League schools received $5.5 billion from foundations compared to $45 million for the 99 HBCUs in 2019. Between 2002 and 2019, foundation support of HBCUs declined 30%. Some study participants blamed systemic racism. Others said connections between philanthropists and HBCU leaders are limited.
