What is the UC-HBCU Initiative?
The UC-HBCU Initiative is a program funded by the UC Office of the President that encourages UC faculty to actively engage in collaboration and cooperation with faculty and students at HBCUs. Such efforts serve to strengthen and enrich our mission of teaching, research and public service.
How to request funding for your eligible admitted UC-HBCU students
- Students who completed their HBCU degrees within the last five years, participated as summer interns funded by the UC-HBCU Initiative, and are admitted to enroll for fall are eligible for one year of fellowship support, a Living supplement/transition award in year one, and professional development funds from UCOP. You can find a find the 2025 detailed fellowship description here.
- Complete the UCOP 5-year funding template as soon as you know you will be admitting an eligible UC-HBCU student to your PhD program.
- UCOP funds are not unlimited, thus don’t wait until the student has accepted admission before you contact UCOP; we want to be sure those that are admitted receive competitive offers to help facilitate the acceptance of their admission offer.
- Should you have any questions or want any assistance completing the template, please reach out to Graduate Studies at Graduate Studies Internal Fellowships.
- Submit the completed funding template directly to UCOP via email: gradstudies@ucop.edu, Attn: Pamela D. Jennings, Executive Director
- While this cost-sharing program is only between UCOP and the admitting graduate program, please copy Graduate Studies Internal Fellowships and Josephine Moreno on the funding request to UCOP.
- Once UCOP approves your request and you have officially admitted the student, you may include information about this funding with the financial offer letter that goes out to the student.
Faculty Interested in Submitting a UC-HBCU Proposal
Before submitting a proposal, it is imperative that you establish a substantive relationship with faculty at HBCUs. If you do not already have these connections, please reach out to the Graduate Studies Diversity Officer for help in making contact.
For detailed information on how to submit a proposal, please visit the UCOP UC-HBCU webpage.
The Request for proposals can be found here.
The annual deadline for submission is March.
Undergraduate Students
If you are an HBCU undergraduate student and are interested in participating in this program, please go to the program webpage to see if your campus has a partnership with UC Davis.