The HBCU Solution We Seek Is in the Mirror

Keith B. Shoates of Student Freedom Initiative says collective investment can reshape the HBCU ecosystem for generations to come.

Higher education is at a crossroads. While college is still seen as a ladder to economic mobility, for too many — especially Black students — it has become a trap of student loan debt without degrees. Nearly 17% of all college students take on loans but never graduate. Among borrowers, that number rises to 40%. Nowhere is this failure more visible — and more devastating — than at our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

For generations, HBCUs have done more with less. Despite meager and oftentimes insufficient budgets and systemic underfunding, these institutions have produced 80% of Black judges, 50% of Black lawyers, and nearly half of all Black engineers and educators. They are the beating heart of many communities, economic engines, and vital contributors to national prosperity.

As president and CEO of Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), I know from firsthand experience that the solution is not in a policy paper — it’s in the mirror. We already have the power, the talent, and the infrastructure to transform the future of HBCUs and their students. What’s needed is the will — and the collective action.

Our mission is simple: to empower students to succeed on their terms, unburdened by structural or financial constraints.

SFI works to bridge the resource gap at HBCUs through innovative, student-centric solutions. Our flexible funding alternative to Parent PLUS loans eliminates credit checks, co-signers, origination fees, and requires no repayment if income falls below 300% of the federal poverty level. It features interest rates 2% lower than Parent PLUS loans, and repayments that are recycled for the benefit of future eligible students.

But we go further. We’re helping HBCUs expand capacity with affordable student housing, workforce development housing, workforce development programs that include stackable credentials to allow students to enter/leave the traditional post-secondary environments on a schedule that works for their unique lifestyle, and upgraded cybersecurity infrastructure. Our mission is simple: to empower students to succeed on their terms, unburdened by structural or financial constraints.

We know what’s coming. History tells us: if we wait for someone else to save our institutions, we’ll be waiting forever. That’s why I’m calling on HBCU alumni, fraternity brothers and sisters, corporate leaders, entertainers, athletes, and anyone who values Black excellence to take ownership of this moment.

Lasting change comes when philanthropy, private industry, and community organizations align with mission-driven leadership at HBCUs.

We already have the blueprint. At SFI, we’ve built an infrastructure that ensures impactful, transparent allocation of resources. We understand not just the budgets and balance sheets of HBCUs, but the culture, the history, and the heartbeat behind each campus. With the right coalition, capital, and commitment, success isn’t just aspirational— it’s inevitable.

This isn’t about one-time donations. It’s about sustained investment, strategic collaboration, and reclaiming our agency. Lasting change comes when philanthropy, private industry, and community organizations align with mission-driven leadership at HBCUs.

Robert F. Smith’s historic 2019 gift to Morehouse College erased student debt and ignited a global dialogue on communal responsibility. Others followed — Reed Hastings, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Bloomberg, MacKenzie Scott, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Myles Garrett, and many more. But the true power lies not in celebrity alone. Each of us can be the catalyst for change. Each of us can be a philanthropist within our communities for those constituents that matter to us. What matters to SFI is our HBCU-anchored communities.

This isn’t about one-time donations. It’s about sustained investment, strategic collaboration, and reclaiming our agency.

Now is the time to institutionalize that energy. To support SFI, UNCF, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, and other nonprofits on the front lines of HBCU advancement. To ensure these schools are no longer forced to choose between renovating aging buildings, funding scholarships, or expanding academic programs.

We must enable HBCUs to say “yes” to the future: “yes” to mental health services, modern laboratories, broadband internet, and industry-aligned curricula. This is how we turn the tide — not just for institutions, but for the generations they empower.

The transformation of our HBCUs won’t be led by policymakers or pundits. It will be led by us — by CEOs and cultural icons, tech founders and Grammy winners, panhellenic council members, alumni, and advocates who choose to act. Collectively, we are more than enough to lead this transformation.

With thoughtful stewardship, our collective investment can reshape the HBCU ecosystem for generations to come. But only if we stop waiting for help to arrive from somewhere else.

The time is now. The solution we seek is in the mirror — and the mirror is waiting.