United Negro College Fund

Mission

UNCF is the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization.UNCF lives up to the ideal expressed in its universally recognized motto "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" by enabling more than 60,000 students each year to attend college. UNCF serves as a national advocate for the importance of education and college readiness and believes that every student needs pre-college education that prepares them for college coursework and success.

Description

UNCF helps increase minority degree attainment by: Awarding more than 10,000 scholarships and internships each year, so students from low- and moderate-income families can afford college tuition, books and room and board, providing operating funds for its 37 member colleges, making it possible for them to offer their students 21st century academic programs in a small-college environment and still keep their average cost approximately 30 percent lower than comparable institutions. Serving as a national advocate for the importance of education by representing students’ public policy interests in Washington, in newspapers and magazines and on radio, TV and the Web and through the national broadcast of UNCF An Evening of Stars®, the annual televised UNCF celebration of excellence in education and entertainment In our Pacific Northwest Region's office, we strive to develop effective outreach efforts to raise funds to support our member schools, students who attend them, and to increase the number of college and scholarship applicants from the Pacific Northwest. We currently support over 600 UNCF students and scholarship applicants from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Our goal is to be able to provide every local minority student with the funds they need to support their college education and promote awareness of UNCF in the Pacific Northwest.