at uncf we all agree that this has to change. we have redoubled our efforts to increase donations and revamped our operations to better serve uncf members and our students. the reality of these bright young people with dreams for a college education, but desperately needing scholarships led to last year's update of our fund-raising campaign, which we called, better futures. of the we need to raise the level of urgency of our appeal to donors and highlight the impact of a college education for everyone. but particularly for african-americans and students of color. we needed to look at funding for scholarships at hbcus, less an an isolated donation and more as an investment in the future. it is an investment in the future of young black men and women, an investment in the future of their communities and an investment in the future of well-being of our society. so, our iconic motto, recognized according to research by over 90% of americans has been changed to reflect the urgent need to create better futures. our new motto reads, a m

and investing in students through uncf works. our patterson research institute examines the effectiveness of our scholarships and found that an african-american freshman who receives a $5,000 uncf scholarship returns for her ophomore year at a 94% rate. raduates in six years at a 70% rate. which is considerably higher than the 59% six-year grad wakes rate at all our four-year colleges. and sees her likelihood of raduating increase by over 7%. so let me make this point clear for you. the six-year graduation rate for african-americans is 40%. if we could increase that rate by over 7%, we would graduate close to 16,000 more african-americans with bachelor's degrees each year. that is an investment that pays dividends not only for those students but also to the investors and the country at large. this data and other economic impact research undergirds our campaign so when we talk about an investment in uncf, as an investment in better futures, we have the numbers to back it up. feed jag on the new campaign from supporters has been po

and uncf core mission has always him and uncf core mission has always been to help fund these him and vital institutions that him and him have brought and him educational and opportunities to african-americans for over 100 years. during our 07 years we have helped more than 400,000 students graduate from our partner schools by raising nearly $4 billion. over time, we have developed a profile as a premium well-run nonprofit and an efficient manager of donated dollars. this led the bill and melinda gates foundation to entrust us with $1.6 billion in grants beginning in 1999 to be used for scholarships for all communities of color. andim and him and him today, we support more than an 12,000 students at 900 schools across the country each year. but our core mission remains our partnership with 37 private four-year hack's and to advocate for all 105 hack's, a number that includes the state-supported historically black institutions as well. today, our member schools are facing a financial crisis as severe as any in uncf's history. and pressured by years of rising costs, even though uncf mem