This Day in History: 1944-04-25

UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for Black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically Black colleges and universities is incorporated by Frederick D. Patterson (then president of what is now Tuskegee University), Mary McLeod Bethune, and others. Operating under the tagline, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,”® in its 70 years of operations UNCF has raised more than $5 billion and helped more than 500,000 students and counting not just attend college, but thrive, graduate and become leaders. UNCF fulfills its mission in three ways: (1) by awarding more than 10,000 students scholarships, worth more than $100 million, each year; (2) by providing financial support to 37 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); and (3) by serving as the nation’s leading advocate for the importance of minority education and community engagement. Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has helped to more than double the number of minorities attending college. The six-year graduation rate for UNCF African American scholarship recipient is 70%, 11% higher than the national average and 31% higher than the national average for all African Americans. Learn more.