The United Negro College Fund is set to aid students threatened with not graduating from or being dropped from some of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities because they’ve run out of money.
The United Negro College Fund is set to aid students threatened with not graduating from or being dropped from some of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities because they’ve run out of money.
The average needy student attending a HBCU owes the school $2,500, said John Donohue, executive vice president of development for the United Negro College Fund.
So in an effort to help students, UNCF, the nation’s largest minority education organization, started an Emergency Student Aid Campaign March 1 to raise additional money for students in need, especially seniors set to graduate this spring.
UNCF officials said the purpose of the campaign is to help as many needy students as possible.
“This campaign and the ExxonMobil challenge grant are a lifeline to all these students,” said Michael Lomax, UNCF president and CEO. “These are students who had already started their academic year when the recession hit. “Now thousands of them are at risk of not being able to finish the semester. Hundreds may not be able to graduate.”
The first part of the campaign calls for raising at least $1.5 million by March 31. By doing so, Donohue said 600 students could be helped. The money would be disbursed to schools then applied to students’ accounts.
“This is Phase I of our campaign to help students at our 39 member schools,” Donohue said. “After this month, Phase II begins where we will raise $5 million to continue helping students–from freshmen to seniors.”
So far the campaign has received a $1 million donation from ExxonMobil. UNCF officials said $500,000 of the donation is effective to needy students immediately while the other $500,000 is a challenge grant.
______
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to our digital or paper edition. For previous editions, contact us for details.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
