HBCUs, Are We Keeping Good Faith With Our Constituents?

With simultaneous stories about HBCU Presidents and their salaries this week being published with many lingering questions being asked by the public, one question that stood out is “Are Private HBCUs Keeping Good Faith Accountability with Their Constituents?” Deep down inside my innermost being, I regretted having to verbalize this question that so many HBCU constituents are whispering about as well as having to ask the question for the long-term viability of these institutions I devoted my life, but with hesitation, I ask and seek answers. Having made history by being the only person to date to save the accreditation of four black institutions of higher education so they could remain open and continue their mission of changing life destinies, I believe that I have earned the right to speak up and speak out when I see the house ablaze, and no one is calling the fire department. The question is being posed to us as a unified whole to inquire, is it time for a transformational change within HBCU land starting with UNCF? My search for answers stems from the authors of two published articles that left open many questions in their articles entitled “HBCU Money: Private School Presidents Salaries” by Steven J. Gaither (July 06, 2026) and HBCU Digest, “New Year, New Me: The 2025-2026 HBCU Executive Leadership Turnover Report” by William Broussard and Dakota Doman.

Broussard and Doman (2026) wrote, “The HBCU presidency remains volatile, but the current story is less about constant vacancy and more about early-tenure leadership…With strong headwinds challenging recruitment and retention of college-aged students across the country, and increased federal scrutiny, funding reductions, and rescissions, the challenges mount for early-stage executive leaders in many settings….The question now may be: are HBCUs building the conditions for newer presidents to succeed, or is more turnover around the corner, given that the college presidency faces historically significant, overlapping challenges? As ever, alumni and advocates of HBCUs must continue to support leaders who demonstrate initiative and lead with courage in these times, while rising to the challenges posed by meddlesome boards and unsupportive legislatures, which present themselves almost without cessation in many contexts.” Gaither captured the cloud confronting especially private HBCUs by saying, “Transparency matters. Stakeholders need to know whether those “salary” figures reflect deferred compensation, retirement contributions, housing, bonuses, severance, or other contractual benefits” (for example, car and gas allowance, housekeeper, etc.). The bigger story is not whether HBCU presidents are paid too much or too little. It is whether the compensation matches the complexity of the job and if boards can clearly show the return on that investment. For private HBCUs, presidential leadership has become a high-pressure, high-dollar business.”

Let me stress here that there has always been extreme stress and high pressure serving as the President of a low-resourced private HBCU, and for those of us presidents who worked for more than $100,000 annual salaries ten years ago, little has changed. In fact, when we look at UNCF, an organization that should be guiding the institutions, we also see major concerns about executive compensation. At UNCF today, the two top executives earn a combined compensation of over $2,000,000. When I think about the widow's mite or the mother who scrubbed bathroom floors so her child could attend a UNCF or private college where the executive is making over $1,000,000 in total compensation, my heart bleeds, and pleads, for an analysis that Gaither called for in determining whether the compensation matches the complexity of the job, and whether there is full transparency and good faith being kept with the public who donates to support our beloved institutions.

If I start by comparing the salary of Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the UNCF, of $1.3 to $1.5 million, the question arises why does he make substantially more in compensation than the President of the Foundation for Independent Higher Education whose salary is approximately $192,390? FIHE raises money for 630 private colleges and universities in America, and UNCF raises money for 37 member institutions. It should be noted that while Dr. Lomax’s salary has steadily increased over the years, the number of UNCF member institutions has continued to dwindle, and several UNCF institutions have been cited for accreditation violations. So, the question must be asked, is it time for a transformative leadership change at UNCF? With ten UNCF presidents making between $500,000 and $2,028,496 in annual compensation, does a new formula need to be considered by UNCF for allowing institutions to remain institutional members. If institutions are able to pay their executives over $500,000 annually, then should not consideration be given to discontinuing UNCF institutional membership, and allow an institution like Morris Brown to have its institutional membership reinstated or have its seat back at the UNCF table. The national average nonprofit for executive compensation that serves a primarily poor constituency like UNCF is $80,000 to $200,000. Perhaps it is time for UNCF to have a management study performed with a constituent survey of the public to look at its service population, its donors, its brand, and image of its CEO and second in command earning over $2 million dollars while the average parent of a UNCF student barely earns $9.50 an hour. With good souls like MacKenzie Scott donating huge sums to enhance our institutions without attaching strings, it would still behoove us to return a return on her investment by giving more scholarships, especially to first generation students and increasing our overall graduation rates and improving our infrastructure rather than our executives taking the money to their personal homes.

Second, Gaither’s question of whether there is transparency and does the compensation match the complexity of the job still looms before us. So, let’s take a look at some examples and adjudicate the outcome. Let’s begin by performing a comparative analysis of institutions in South Carolina to see how our private HBCUs are doing.

Compensation Comparison Table

The core financial health, executive pay, and full-time faculty averages for these seven South Carolina institutions are detailed below, compiled using recent ProPublica Nonprofit IRS Form 990 data, IPEDS/AAUP faculty surveys, and South Carolina public records:

Key Financial Insights

• “The Executive Premium: Anderson University operates with an executive compensation model that exceeds much larger institutions like Furman. The President’s total compensation package is over $1 Million, marking it as one of the highest among regional private Christian colleges.
• Budget Scale vs. Enrollment: Though Anderson University serves the largest student headcount, Furman University commands by far the largest operational budget at $296.8 Million, driven by high tuition revenues and a massive capital endowment.
• Faculty Pay Gaps: Furman leads the pack in faculty investment, with an average full-time instructor pulling in $121,000, which sits roughly 18% higher than the South Carolina state average. Private and public HBCUs like Benedict, Claflin, and SC State operate on leaner instruction budgets, averaging between $62,000 to $71,465.” (College Tuition Comparison for 2024-2025)
• Claflin University is in the $1 Million Compensation Tier which matches Howard University’s President where there is a Medical School, and Howard University has an enrollment of 14,890 students compared to Claflin’s enrollment of 1,852 students. Either the salary of the President of Howard University needs to be increased from $1,471,974 or the salary ($1,079,436) of the President of Claflin University needs to be adjusted downward especially when one considers that the average annual household income for all persons in Orangeburg, South Carolina is $38,635. Also, Howard University is a major comprehensive research university while Claflin operates primarily as a comprehensive liberal arts institution that has a heavy emphasis on undergraduate research. So, how can our donors, alumni, and supporters continue to support us when they see this glaring example of potential compensation over-reach or under-reach?

The student-to-faculty ratios for these seven South Carolina institutions vary across different institutional models and funding structures and must be considered when considering Presidential Compensation:

*Note: Benedict College records an intimate 13:1 ratio via U.S. News & World Report benchmarking, though its broader headcount tracking scales closer to 19:1 when including all part-time or non-traditional students via UNCF profiles. [1] Is this yet, another transparency issue for Benedict College?

Strategic Analysis

• “The Premium Liberal Arts Model: Furman University, Wofford College, and Presbyterian College post the lowest ratios (10:1 to 12:1). This tightly mirrors their high faculty pay averages, showcasing an institutional focus on small, highly-mentored classroom settings.
• Public Land-Grant Realities: At 19:1, South Carolina State University functions with a wider student-to-instructor ratio. This is typical for a public land-grant university balancing larger lecture tracking alongside affordable, accessible education. [1, 2]
• The Balancing Act: Anderson University preserves a highly competitive 14:1 ratio despite explosive enrollment growth over the last decade, outperforming standard class-size averages for similarly sized private universities.” (College Tuition Comparison for 2024-2025)

Comparative Graduation Rates

The standard six-year graduation rates for the seven institutions vary, showing a strong correlation to institutional resource levels, admission selectivity, and the demographics of the student populations they serve: [1, 2, 3]

*Note: Benedict College historically sat near a 21%-25% six-year rate, but recently surged past 42.7% following a sweeping overhaul of student-support initiatives…Transparency?

In summary, this research supports the finding of Gaither that “HBCU Presidential Compensation packages at several prominent private HBCUs have recently crossed the $1 million threshold, while average faculty salaries at these same institutions generally remain between $70,000 and $100,000,” and in some instances allegations are that faculty /staff have not received raises or increases in their incomes in years. (Glassdoor, 2026). This report also supports the HBCU Digest report, and it adds credence and caution to our HBCU Presidential Sisters and Brothers that the world is watching, and even if there are the required compensation studies to justify these huge increases in salaries, is it fair and just to the constituents we are tasked to serve to give ourselves these huge compensation packages when our constituents sometimes make less than $9.50 an hour? Remember the Widow’s Mite as you take $1 million home. https://hbcugameday.com/2026/07/06/hbcu-money-private-school-presidents-salaries/

Dr. Algeania Marie Warren Freeman served as an administrator, grant writer, grant manager, accreditation expert, educator/trainer, fundraiser, mentor, and civic leader. A history maker, Dr. Freeman served as the President of two universities and two colleges: Wilberforce University, Livingstone College, Martin University, and St. Paul’s College as well as the administrator for a major School of Public and Allied Health /career education center with 22 certificates and associate degree programs at East Tennessee State University. Dr. Freeman earned the following degrees: Doctor of Philosophy Degree - Communications, The Ohio State University; Master of Science Degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology, Southern Illinois University/Carbondale; Bachelor of Science Degree in English, Fayetteville State University.