HBCU refers to Historically Black Colleges and Universities that were originally established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide higher education for Black students who were denied entry into White colleges and universities in the United States because of segregation. After segregation was outlawed, HBCUs have continued to be a viable option for all students who desire higher education in a smaller historical environment.

Currently, there are 101 HBCUs in the United States, either state-supported or privately funded. Thirty-Seven (37) of these schools are privately funded and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was founded to provide financial support to these schools.

The idea began in the early 1940s when Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, then the President of Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, AL, recognized that the only way black colleges would be able to survive would be for them to pool their efforts and work together to raise the funds they needed. A man of action, Dr. Patterson wrote an open letter in the Pittsburgh Courier to the presidents of other historically black colleges and universities urging them to “pool their small monies and make a united appeal to the national conscience.” His idea touched the hearts and minds of those presidents and on April 25, 1944, 27 historically black colleges and universities came together and formed the United Negro College Fund…the UNCF. Today we support 60,000 students at colleges across the nation with tuition and room and board assistance. We support 37 HBCUs and graduate more than 8,000 students a year.