Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donates $70m to HBCUs

From the Associated Press

The gift, one of Scott’s largest single donations, will help UNCF build a $370m pooled endowment for its 37 HBCUs

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70m to the UNCF, as the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships to minority students works to raise $1bn to strengthen all 37 of its historically Black colleges and universities.

The gift is one of Scott’s largest single donations ever and among the first to be publicly disclosed in 2025. Famously private, Scott only discusses her donations through her website and does not confirm them until after the recipients do.

“This extraordinary gift is a powerful vote of confidence in HBCUs and in the work of UNCF,” the non-profit’s president and chief executive officer Dr Michael L Lomax told the Associated Press in a statement. “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.”

Lomax said Scott’s donation would be used for UNCF’s pooled endowment, which aims to establish a $370m fund – $10m for each UNCF member HBCU. That fund will be invested and designed to pay out about 4% annually, which will then be divided among the HBCUs to help stabilize their budgets. Increasing HBCU endowments is a priority since they trail endowments at non-HBCUs by 70%, according to the UNCF.

The broader $1bn fundraising effort is an attempt to help HBCUs address the funding disparity they face when compared to other colleges and universities.

Learn more about the HBCU funding disparity and how this donation helps.

The Trump administration also just released funds to some HBCUs.

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