The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is a non-profit organization that supports and represents nearly 300,000 students attending its 55 member-schools that include public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), medical schools, and law schools. The organization is named after the Supreme Court's first African-American Justice, Thurgood Marshall.

History

The organization was established in 1987, under the leadership of Dr. N. Joyce Payne, in cooperation with Miller Brewing Company, Sony Music, the NBA, Reebok and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to institutionally support public HBCUs. It underwent a name change in 2006 from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. TMCF advocates for higher education at public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and has grown from a small organization providing scholarships for public HBCUs, raising over $500 million to date for programmatic support, capacity building support, and scholarships for its member schools and the students matriculating on the campuses. Its mission differs from that of the United Negro College Fund, which supported approximately 65,000 students at 900 colleges and universities with approximately $113 million in grants and scholarships in 2015 alone. The Thurgood Marshall College fund supports 55 schools and is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization, which means it does not pay taxes on its income. TMCF was granted $50 million in 2015 by Apple, $26.5 million in 2017 by the Charles Koch Foundation and Koch Industries, and $6 million by The Boeing Company in 2018.

Acquisitions

In 2013, TMCF acquired the Opportunity Funding Corporation (OFC), merging the two organizations with TMCF becoming the parent organization. Both organizations share a similar mission of providing service to the HBCU community, particularly in the area of talent identification. While continuing its efforts to enhance the entrepreneurship curriculum within public and private HBCUs, OFC will identify the promising future entrepreneurs and introduce them to potential investors and successful entrepreneurs.

Leadership

Member schools listing

Member School Breakdown:

TMCF Partners

Scholarships

K-12 Initiatives

Student Leadership and Talent Sourcing

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Higher Education Research

Board of directors