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In January 2024, UNCF's Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI) published "Adult Learner Initiative External Report," which outlined key findings and recommendations from an evaluation of the Adult Learner Initiative. To supplement and extend that work, Ascendium Education Group collaborated with FDPRI and Lumina Foundation to fund this portion of the evaluation, which centers Black, rural learners. Black, rural learners and other institutional actors at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in North Carolina experience rurality in varied ways. Despite institutional characteristics and geospatial locations that contribute to the unique identities of HBCUs, actors offered nuanced considerations about rurality. Faculty, staff, and students understood rurality in the context of environmental, financial, and social factors in addition to services and programs tailored to rural students. This report engages rural data landscapes, scholarship on rural students, and empirical research about adult learners at HBCUs to explore rurality. Our overall approach is threefold: First, the authors use place-based data categories and nomenclature to situate HBCUs within rural discourses. Second, the authors position institutional and statewide strategic plans as critical documents that help contextualize researchers' and institutional actors' conceptions of rurality. Third, the authors frame HBCU actors' voices about place as essential contextual components for understanding institutional and community cultures and differentiating between HBCU environments.

To support and enhance educational attainment in the United States, the Lumina Foundation established a national goal of 60% of adults earning a high-quality credential by 2025. To achieve this goal, the Lumina Foundation expanded its funding to the adult learner population in 2017 by establishing the Adult Promise Initiative. The organization recognizes and values diversity, equity, and inclusion in its work and understands how minority-serving institutions, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), are integral to the proliferation of Black adult learners. Recognizing the tremendous impact HBCUs have on the educational attainment of Black Adult Learners, we must identify their curricular and co-curricular best practices that are critical to the academic success of this population. This report will provide an overview of these best practices for faculty, staff, and students of the five HBCUs participating in the Lumina Adult Learner Initiative grant. The organization of this report will include a brief review of the Adult Learner Initiative grant and its components, followed by the best practices frequently discussed among faculty, staff, and students participating in the grant and recommendations. The authors will then review Lumina's philanthropic approach to the grant. Lastly, how staff and administrators define capacity-building for the adult learner population will be examined.

This report offers an in-depth review of the "Move into Middle Class+" mobility rate and its efficiency as a measure of social mobility for Black students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The report includes an overview of the access, success and mobility rates at HBCUs. Additionally, it offers an equity-centered approach to understanding higher education outcomes for underserved students. It underscores that when such an approach to research is taken a clearer picture may be observed of the sheer magnitude of the outcomes produced by HBCUs. This is especially the case as it relates to access to higher education and economic mobility.

Since 1837, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have secured a reputation for providing students, especially Black students, with a holistic college experience. An experience that embraces culture and leads to self-discovery, life-long personal and professional relationships, and most importantly, career opportunities. Today, HBCUs represent 3% of colleges and universities, educate almost 10% of all Black college students and produce 17% of Black bachelor's degrees. However, HBCUs and organizations like UNCF, created to serve such institutions and Black students more broadly, are often overlooked as designers or producers of effective student success programming for Black students. This report answers two key questions: (1) Why is UNCF especially equipped to support HBCUs and institutions focused on increasing Black student success? (2) Why is UNCF an expert in equity? Additionally, this publication makes the case for uplifting organizational research and practices using principles of Black feminist thought (Collins, 1991) and a practical framework for application offered in the concept of culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995).

The CPI Mid-Term Assessment provides insights from the first two years of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF)® Career Pathways Initiative (CPI). The authors derived insights from a comprehensive view of the experience of UNCF's Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) and the network of institutions implementing the program. To facilitate continuous improvement, this assessment shares early insights that guide how the authors address the following questions through completion of the grant: (1) How can ICB's delivery of programmatic supports be refined?; (2) How can scale promising practices be willed across the three-pronged network-based approach?; and (3) How can current efforts to support student success be amplified? UNCF, ICB, and the CPI's ultimate goal is to increase student and workforce outcomes for low-income, first generation Black students and other students of color. This mid-term assessment is an important milestone for the program. Insights from this assessment will shape how UNCF will enhance the execution of the CPI program through the remainder of the grant period. It will also identify promising practices to inform transformative change at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), predominantly Black institutions (PBIs), and other institutions of higher education. The assessment covers the first two years of program implementation or the period from January 2017-December 2019. It is organized to provide insights from three critical components: program overview, early outcomes, and institutional highlights. The assessment ends with a summary of progress to date and path forward.

"Imparting Wisdom: HBCU Lessons for K-12 Education" details historically black colleges and universities' (HBCUs) longstanding efforts to provide quality educational experiences for their students and how their success may be translated in K-12 schools. This brief uplifts research-based HBCU best practices, practical recommendations and insights from HBCU leaders, with the goal of promoting mutually beneficial alliances between the K-12 and higher education communities. The outlined lessons in the report rest on the following best practices that HBCUs employ: (1) cultivating nurturing support systems; (2) leveraging African American culture and identity; and (3) setting high expectations. Each best practice also details corresponding lessons for the K-12 space. These HBCU "best practices" can serve as effective models for K-12 schools, districts and charter management organizations (CMOs) in improving the educational outcomes of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Campaign for Emergency Student Aid (CESA) is a unique United Negro College Fund (UNCF) scholarship program that provides "just-in-time" financial aid to historically black college and university (HBCU) students poised to graduate, but short of funding. In 2018, the Kresge Foundation provided UNCF with funding to better understand how students were selected for CESA awards, the impact of those awards and to gain an in-depth understanding of the array of emergency aid efforts and programs available on UNCF-member institution campuses and their effectiveness to improve student outcomes and increase graduation rates. Specific to emergency aid, this research includes the processes by which HBCUs administer aid, the methods for informing students about availability of aid, the types of aid available, the characteristics of students who receive the aid, funding sources, etc. This study is important as CESA funding revenue has been declining on an annual basis. UNCF seeks to learn more about what is working and what is not working relative to emergency aid programs for HBCU students as the emergency needs continue to grow. It is anticipated that this study will enable UNCF to strengthen its case for CESA support. Increased support will likely lead to increased revenue and, over the long term, improved student outcomes.

A college degree is increasingly vital for career mobility and economic success as more employers are requiring greater levels of education and credentials. For more than 150 years, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have played a leading role in graduating black students and have made significant contributions to the workforce and economic vitality of the nation. A historically black college and university is defined as "… any historically black college or university that was established before 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of African Americans." There are 101 accredited public and private HBCUs located in 19 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. While these institutions only represent 3 percent of the nation's colleges and universities, they are economic engines in both their regional communities and the nation, generating substantial economic returns annually. gional economies and how much graduates benefit in terms of increased earnings over a working lifetime. The study noted that every dollar spent on, and by, an HBCU and its students has a positive chain reaction in terms of heightened economic activity, increased job creation, and greater earning potential for graduates. At the national level, the study's key findings revealed that: (1) HBCUs annually generate 134,090 jobs and $14.8 billion in total economic impact for their local and regional economies; and (2) HBCU graduates from 2014 can expect total earnings of $130 billion over their lifetimes--56 percent more than they could expect to earn without their college degrees.

This report is the third in a series that probes community reactions to K-12 education; its two predecessors, "Lift Every Voice and Lead: African American Leaders' Perceptions of K-12 Education Reform" (see ED588631), and "Done to Us, Not with Us: African American Parent Perceptions of K-12 Education" (see ED573649), addressed the roles that should be played by parents and community leaders. The role to be played by youth is just as important. They are, after all, the stakeholders whose response to reform will determine if it succeeds or fails. Of the three groups, they are the only one with firsthand knowledge of what happens in the classroom. And, all too often, they do not have a seat at the table during reform discussions. This study begins to remedy that omission. The findings indicate that African American youth want to be heard, and they offer meaningful commentary on the educational environment and the structural issues that may impede their success. African American youth consider education a key factor in achieving their life goals and overwhelmingly want a college degree; yet, like parents and leaders, many students, especially those from low-income backgrounds, often lack the information needed to successfully navigate the educational landscape. This information deficit often creates barriers to college entry and can have enduring effects on students and communities. This report summarizes the perceptions of African American youth on K-12 education and provides actionable recommendations for improving the educational trajectories of all students.

This brief encourages leaders to utilize their influence to help alleviate the long-standing achievement gaps in the education system, because when students flourish, entire communities can flourish as well. The authors want to ensure that grasstops are intentional in their advocacy for black students. The "Lift Every Voice and Lead Toolkit" provides tangible tips, strategies, talking points and resources to help grasstops who are serious about using their influence to make transformational change for all youth. [For the first report in this series, "Done to Us, Not with Us: African American Parent Perceptions of K-12 Education," see ED573649. For the second report, "Lift Every Voice and Lead: African American Leaders' Perceptions of K-12 Education Reform," see ED588631.]

UNCF conducted this study to shed light on African American grasstops' perspectives toward education reform and how they work to develop community-centered strategies to address disparities in schools. One narrative about the lack of engagement by local grasstops in education reform is that they do not care or are not informed about the topic. Such perceptions of apathy may not bode well for collaboration with communities or schools and could thwart progress for reform efforts. As such, UNCF wanted to investigate this phenomenon in greater detail. This study explored three areas of interest, which are followed by their guiding research questions: (1) Problems affecting people within the community: What are the serious issues affecting people in your city and community? What should be the highest priority in improving your community? (2) Perspectives on education: How are public schools doing in preparing African American students to attend and graduate from college? What are the top priorities for improving the educational landscape for African American students? and (3) Barriers to student success: How well are African American leaders doing in responding to the educational crisis facing African American students? What most affects the quality of education in your community? The key results suggest that there is, in fact, fertile ground for collaboration between parents and grasstops as the leaders expressed a strong sense of optimism in their ability to advance educational progress for students. Findings range from perceptions of the state of education for black youth to evaluations of grasstops' role in improving educational opportunities. The results reveal that African American grasstops are informed about various issues in education and would like to be further engaged in education reform work. "Lift Every Voice and Lead" is the second report in a three-part series on African American perceptions of K-12 education. [For the first report in this series, "Done to Us, Not with Us: African American Parent Perceptions of K-12 Education," see ED573649.]

"Building Better Narratives in Black Education" fundamentally changes the narrative and face of education reform to meaningfully include Black voices, leaders and initiatives that truly have equity and Black student success at the core. This is imperative as there is an education crisis for Black students in the United States. Recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results indicate that only seven percent of Black students performed at or above proficient on the 12th grade math exam in 2015, compared with 32 percent of White students. African American students are less likely to meet ACT college readiness benchmarks than any other racial group and often lag behind on various indicators on the primary and secondary levels. However, far too often the narrative has stopped there. While it is important to deconstruct and analyze inequities in the educational system, we have to move from solely deficit-based narratives to decisions to strengthen policies and conversations that fundamentally change the state of education for African American students. It's time to build a better, more actionable narrative that represents the promise of education to drive equity. UNCF, Education Post, and the National Urban League each collected data on African Americans' perspective on significant K-12 education issues, and this report synthesizes salient themes from these various data. Grounded in the lived experiences of the African American community, "Building Better Narratives in Black Education" provides tangible approaches to fundamentally shift the narrative concerning Black educational reform in order to better engage communities and reformers around an equitable K-12 education system. Sections about the contributors and the methodology are appended.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) represent a small percentage of all institutions in the U.S. but educate a large portion of all black and Latino students, many of whom are low-income and first-generation college attendees. Given the population growth of these students overall, both HSIs and HBCUs are in a distinct position to help move the country's college completion agenda forward. Showing the commonalities between these two groups of institutions can be beneficial in raising policy awareness about Latino and black students and the institutions serving them.

Each year, as the title of this report suggests, UNCF awards well over 10,000 scholarships, fellowships and internships under 400 programs. As UNCF receives no federal or state funds, these programs are supported by contributions from corporations, foundations, families and individuals-- investments in the futures of the students who receive the scholarships, fellowships and internships. And because the nation and every community in it need the college-educated professionals students will become upon graduation, these are investments in everyone's futures. This report, issued biennially by UNCF's Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI), is UNCF's accounting for these programs collectively and, for several of the largest and most innovative programs, individually as well. UNCF's scholarship programs support students at UNCF-member institutions and other colleges and universities during a critical period of their academic lives. These scholarships eliminate a significant portion of the students' unmet financial need and therefore are instrumental in their ability to remain enrolled in and graduate from their institutions.

This supplement to our 2012 report (see ED562057) on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) retention and graduation rates narrows that report's focus to UNCF's member institutions, and shows that these private HBCUs retain and graduate students at rates competitive with other postsecondary institutions. These schools perform especially well at the graduation of Black and African American students, a population central to their historical mission and essential to the nation's global competitiveness. An appendix contains the methodology.

While research consistently shows the earning power of college degrees, those returns are best weighed against the cost of attending post-secondary institutions, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) included. This study is an update of "Affordability of UNCF-Member Institutions" (2009), and compares the average costs at the 37 historically black colleges and universities HBCUs that comprise the UNCF network to comparable private, not-for-profit institutions. "Affordability" is a relative term, but this analysis demonstrates that UNCF-member institutions are considerably more affordable than comparable institutions despite tuition increases across the country since the great recession began in late 2007. Specifically, this analysis found that: (1) The average total price for attending UNCF-member institutions in the 2012-13 academic year was about 26 percent lower than the average total price for each institution's comparison group that same year; (2) For all four academic years examined (2009-10 through 2012-13), the average price for attending UNCF-member institutions was more than 25 percent lower than the price of their comparison groups; (3) The average annual increase between 2009 and 2012 in the total cost of attending UNCF's member institutions was 3.88 percent, while the average annual increase in the costs of comparison groups was 4.10 percent; and (4) In a comparison of net prices, where the out-of-pocket costs paid by students after financial aid is factored in, we see an average net price for UNCF's member institutions of $16,483, 19.8% lower than the average net price for their comparison groups ($20,561). Appended are: (1) UNCF-Member Institutions' and Comparison Groups Prices and Average Annual Change, by Institution, Academic Years 2009-2010 to 2012-2013; and (2) UNCF-Member Institutions' and Comparison Groups Net Prices, by Institution, Academic Years 2011-2012.

An appendix provides regression analyses.As the cost of higher education continues to climb, colleges and universities are finding themselves under increased pressure to demonstrate their value by enrolling, graduating and launching graduates into careers with the skills needed to compete as part of the American workforce. Few institutions are positioned with all of the resources required to support student success absent the public funding (be it student- or institution-based) that has long subsidized the cost of earning a college degree. These difficulties could not be truer of the fiscal environment in which historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) operate. For more than 150 years, HBCUs have played a significant role in providing access to postsecondary education for millions of blacks, many of whom currently come from low-income families and are first-generation college students. As pressures mount for all institutions of higher education to be more accountable for demonstrating favorable student outcomes (e.g., retention and graduation rates), HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions face unique challenges that have often been overlooked in evaluations of institutional performance in retaining and graduating students. In this report, the authors provide an empirically based case for why evaluations of institutional performance should account for factors--namely, student characteristics, given their strong association with student outcomes related to persistence and completion--that are traditionally excluded in most measures of institutional performance. An appendix provides details on regression analyses. [For "Understanding HBCU Retention and Completion: UNCF-Member Institution Supplement," see ED562058.]

Despite the importance of postsecondary education to the economic and social vitality of the U.S. and the individuals who pursue this academic goal, the educational pipeline to and through college is broken for communities of color, the fastest-growing segment of the population. This report offers a revealing glimpse of the American system of public education from the perspective of those with the biggest stake in better schools: the parents of the African American children who are least well served by the system. This report is a meta-analysis of a two-part research program that involved both a quantitative survey and qualitative focus groups. The study was conducted in February and March 2012 in five target cities: Atlanta, Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. These cities were chosen because they have large African American populations, robust education reform efforts are under way or are part of a planning process to address the cities' challenges, and United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has a strong institutional presence there. These cities in particular face many of the educational challenges that prevent too many African American children from fulfilling their potential, and they therefore serve as excellent testing grounds. The key findings from this study reinforce and add greater details to the body of knowledge about African American parents and their involvement in the education of their children. Most important, a substantial percentage of low-income African American parents and caregivers who participated in the study (87 percent) have high aspirations for their children and overwhelmingly want them to graduate from college. An appendix contains the following: (1) Data Collection Methods; and (2) Topics on Which Low-Income Parents Would Like More Information to Support Their Child's Academic Progress.