Thurgood Marshall College Fund

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is an American non-profit organization that supports and represents nearly 300,000 students attending its 47 member-schools that include public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), medical schools and law schools. TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization.

History
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is named for the U.S. Supreme Court's first African-American Justice, Thurgood Marshall. The organization was established in 1987, under the leadership of Dr. N. Joyce Payne in cooperation with Miller Brewing Co., Sony Music, the NBA, Reebok and the American Association for State Colleges and Universities to create an organization that would support the public HBCUs. The organization went through a name change in 2006 from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Over the years, TMCF has championed higher education at public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). TMCF has blossomed from a small organization providing scholarships to a powerhouse of resources for public HBCUs, raising over $200 million to date for programmatic support, capacity building support and scholarships for its member-schools and the students matriculating on the campuses. Johnny C. Taylor Jr. has been the president and chief executive officer since 2010. Johnny Parham became the first executive director in 1994. Dwayne Ashley served as president and chief executive officer from 1999 to 2010.

In 2013, TMCF acquired the Opportunity Funding Corporation (OFC), merging the two organizations with TMCF becoming the parent organization. The merger was a perfect match because both organizations share a similar mission of providing service to the HBCU community, particularly in the area of talent identification. OFC, while continuing its efforts to enhance the entrepreneurship curriculum within public and private HBCUs, will now focus on identifying the most promising future entrepreneurs and introducing them to potential investors and very successful entrepreneurs.

TMCF has a different mission than the United Negro College Fund, which only supports private HBCUs.

Facts
•	To date, TMCF has provided more than $200 million in scholarships, programmatic and capacity building support to its students and member-schools.

•	TMCF member-schools enroll approximately 80% of all students attending the nation’s HBCUs.

•	93% of all first-time, full-time undergraduate degree/certificate-seeking students who attend TMCF member-schools rely on financial aid in their pursuit of a degree.

•	Over 2 million young people have graduated from TMCF member-schools.

•	The 2013 graduation rate was 97% for TMCF scholarship recipients.