According to a report in Forbes, billionaire Michael Bloomberg is expanding his longstanding support for historically Black colleges and universities by investing in K-12 public charter schools located on HBCU campuses. Bloomberg Philanthropies and the City Fund announced a $20 million initiative to launch two Alabama schools—one at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa and one near Tuskegee University—that are designed to create direct academic pipelines into HBCUs and strengthen future career opportunities for Black students.
Forbes reports that the investment will support the I Dream Big Academy on Stillman’s campus, which opened earlier this year, and the D.C. Wolfe Charter School in Shorter, which is being converted from an existing elementary school and is expected to open in fall 2026. Students at both sites will have access to dual-enrollment courses at the partnering universities and community-based internships intended to accelerate degree completion.
Jasmine Jenkins, senior program officer for education and advocacy at Bloomberg Philanthropies, told Forbes, “There are two schools that have been announced, and there are a few more in the pipeline that we’re really excited about. This is a continuation of the work that Mike Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies has been doing for over a decade—supporting high-quality public charter schools and supporting the work that historically Black colleges and universities have been doing for decades.”
Bloomberg laid the groundwork for the initiative in 2022 with a $10 million donation to the United Negro College Fund to support charter programs serving Black students, Forbes reports. The long-term goal is to expand the model across Alabama, throughout the South, and eventually nationwide.
The announcement arrives during a period of historic philanthropic investment in HBCUs, according to Forbes. More than $800 million in major donations have flowed to HBCUs in recent months, driven largely by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s roughly $700 million in gifts. Home Depot cofounder Arthur Blank pledged $50 million to Atlanta-area HBCUs, while Bloomberg has remained one of the sector’s largest backers, including a $100 million commitment to reduce medical school debt and a $600 million investment in four HBCU medical programs in 2024.
Forbes cites a 2024 White House fact sheet showing HBCUs educate forty percent of the nation’s Black engineers, fifty percent of Black lawyers, seventy percent of Black doctors, and eighty percent of Black judges. The new initiative builds on a lesser-known but longstanding tradition of HBCU-affiliated K-12 schools, including programs at Howard University, Delaware State, Florida A&M, and Southern University.
Launching the effort in Alabama is expected to have significant impact. The state authorized public charter schools only in 2015, and the Black Belt—where Stillman and Tuskegee are located—continues to face deep educational and economic challenges. Forbes reports that more than one-third of children aged five to seventeen in the region live below the poverty line, a rate far above the statewide average.
Stillman College President Yolanda Page told Forbes that the partnership is already strengthening both academic engagement and community ties. “Middle school students have access to field and faculty experiences on campus, and when they reach ninth grade, they’ll be able to enroll in dual-enrollment courses at Stillman,” she said. “This puts them on the path to their degree earlier than they had anticipated.”
Stillman enrolls 745 students and aims to reach 1,000 by 2030. Page said the partnership is helping build a stronger retention pipeline and a more prepared workforce. “One of our 2025 education graduates is now a seventh-grade math teacher at I Dream Big Academy,” she told Forbes. “There are so many ways this partnership benefits the academy, Stillman College and the broader community.”
All reporting in this story is attributed to Forbes.
