UNCF Launches Nationwide Campaign to Re-Enroll Former HBCU and PBI Students through Coaching

UNCF taps student coaching pioneer InsideTrack to help 4,000 former students return to HBCU and PBI campuses and complete their degrees

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 19, 2021) -- UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the nation’s leading advocate for the importance of minority education and community engagement, today announced a new initiative designed to help students who left college before graduating to re-enroll in a network of nine Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) across the country. Through a collaboration with student success nonprofit InsideTrack, UNCF will provide personalized success coaching to thousands of former HBCU and PBI students nationwide to help them successfully navigate the complexity of college re-enrollment, resume their studies, and develop a plan to successfully complete their degrees.

“The work that HBCUs do daily is essential to building a more inclusive and equitable system of higher education in this country. HBCUs are not only cornerstones of educational access and attainment, but fixtures of the Black experience in America, whose students develop meaningful and lifelong connections to the institutions they attend,” said Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF. “This initiative will empower returning HBCU students with high-impact resources and support to manage personal, financial and academic challenges of student life to the triumphant achievement of earning a degree.”

Through the initiative, 4,000 returning HBCU and PBI students will receive up to four months of one-on-one coaching to help them complete their academic studies. Coaches will help students set goals, build skills to balance work, family, financial and academic commitments; and develop individual plans to help make graduation a reality.

To help address the variety of challenges students face beyond the classroom, the re-enrollment initiative will also help students identify and connect to on-campus resources ranging from financial aid to health and wellness and academic support services.InsideTrack coaches will share frontline insights with participating institutions to increase their understanding of the re-enrollment experience. InsideTrack will also generate monthly analytics reports compiling insights on the most common obstacles students encounter during re-enrollment.

“HBCUs have always been an essential thread in the fabric of higher education access and developmental resources for communities of color. The institutions are invaluable in unlocking the multigenerational benefits of college completion for hundreds of thousands of students each year,” said Ruth White, president of InsideTrack. “True to their history and values, UNCF is taking a forward-thinking and inclusive approach to help build the sector’s capacity for student support—and strengthen the promise of degree completion for a new generation of HBCU students.”

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About UNCF: UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”® Learn more at UNCF.org, or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.

About InsideTrack: InsideTrack is passionate about student success. We partner with institutions and organizations to improve enrollment, persistence, completion and career readiness. Our student support methodology uncovers first hand feedback about student goals and challenges. Through strategic guidance, staff training and student coaching, we help institutions turn this feedback into actionable insights that drive better student outcomes. As a nonprofit member of the Strada Education Network, we offer partners access to a comprehensive range of student success solutions as well as the latest research and insights on student success. We’ve supported more than 2 million students since 2001 and currently serve over 4,000 programs. Visit us at www.insidetrack.org and follow us on Twitter @InsideTrack.