Jovan Tripkovic
October 22, 2025
President Trump Makes Historic Investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities
A historic investment in hbcus
On September 15, 2025, President Trump’s Administration redirected more than $400 million in federal funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The $435 million grant, combined with existing congressional appropriations, brings total HBCU funding to more than $1.34 billion for fiscal year 2025—a 48.4% increase over the previous fiscal year.
These funds are immediately available to HBCUs and can be used for property acquisition, new construction, campus maintenance, laboratory equipment, faculty support, student services, and other purposes authorized by the Higher Education Act.
Several HBCU leaders expressed their gratitude for this historic, one-time federal investment. For example, Lodriguez V. Murray, senior vice president for public policy and government affairs at UNCF, described the grant funds as “nothing short of a godsend for HBCUs.”
HBCUs: ACADEMIC AND ECONOMIC IMPACT
HBCUs are higher education institutions founded before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As of 2022, these schools enrolled approximately 343,700 students in the United States.
While HBCUs enroll students of all backgrounds, they have long served as beacons of academic excellence, economic opportunity, and social mobility for African American students. HBCUs serve approximately 10% of all African American students, despite comprising only 3% of Title IV graduates, they produce a significant number of African American professionals:
- 17% of all African American college graduates
- 24% of African American STEM graduates
- 50% of African American lawyers
- 50% of African American doctors
- 80% of African American judges.
The impact of HBCUs extends beyond academia—HBCUs also have a significant influence on the U.S. economy. According to a recent UNCF report, HBCUs:
- generate $16.5 billion in annual economic activity;
- generate $146 billion in work-life earnings; and
support 136,048 annual jobs.
An HBCU graduate working full-time over the course of their career can expect to earn $1,036,403 more than someone without a degree.
president trump’S legacy of supporting hbcus
President Trump has been a consistently strong advocate for HBCUs. The current funding boost follows his April 23, 2025, executive order establishing the White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. That order aims to support HBCUs by:
- establishing a White House Initiative on HBCUs within the Executive Office of the President to strengthen their capacity to deliver high-quality education;
- convening an annual White House Summit on HBCUs to foster collaboration and address key priorities for institutional success;
- prioritizing private-sector partnerships, institutional development, and workforce preparation.
- removing barriers that limit HBCUs’ access to federal and state grant funding;
- improving HBCUs’ competitiveness for research and development funding;
- enhancing institutional capabilities by supporting implementation of the HBCU PARTNERS Act, promoting research and program excellence, improving affordability and student retention, and creating pipelines that encourage more students to attend HBCUs; and
- establishing the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs within the Department of Education, bringing together HBCU presidents with leaders from philanthropy, education, business, finance, entrepreneurship, innovation, and private foundations.
Moreover, President Trump took a number of concrete actions to support HBCUs during his first term. These included:
- ensuring equal access to federal support for faith-based HBCUs;
- signing the FUTURE Act into law, which permanently extended $255 million in annual federal funding and increased funding for federal Pell Grants;
- relocating the federal HBCU initiative to the White House, resulting in greater prioritization and direct oversight;
- providing more than $100 million for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions; and
- forgiving $322 million in federal loans for four Louisiana HBCUs to support their recovery from damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.