For HBCUs, alumni enthusiasm is high, but of the 46 HBCUs covered in a 2017 article by U.S. News & World Report, only 11 percent of alumni per school donated, on average.

You have shaped American leaders, rained American egends, pioneered American innovations, empowered American workers, built American communities."

Several Democratic presidential candidates have announced plans for billions more in HBCU investment. And the school’s continued track record in producing middle-class black families proves it would be a worthy one. For all of their struggles, two-thirds of low-income students at HBCUs end up in the middle class or better. But regardless of who is in office, the likelihood of any future Democratic Congress with an inevitably small majority passing expensive legislation catering to one minority group is slim.

resident Donald Trump, speaking t the National HBCU Week onference in September Several Democratic presidential candidates have announced plans for billions more in HBCU investment. And the school’s continued track record in producing middle-class black families proves it would be a worthy one. For all of their struggles, two-thirds of low-income students at HBCUs end up in the middle class or better. But regardless of who is in office, the likelihood of any future Democratic Congress with an inevitably small majority passing expensive legislation catering to one minority group is slim.

HBCUs' survival, then, hinges on more than digging deeper into the government's pockets. The schools will need to further engage alumni beyond

homecoming events and Greek life. It may also be helpful for them to create broader marketing campaigns — to lobby school counselors and state departments of education to better explain the richness of HBCUs — explicitly encouraging students of other races to apply as well.

Even after the next big recession hits the American economy, some