Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Founded in 1987, Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is the only organization that supports the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).  TMCF partners with member schools to: increase student access, retention and graduation rates; identify and prepare students with significant leadership potential; and create a pipeline for employers to highly qualified students and alumni.  Through the TMCF #INTHEBLACK Student Loan Repayment Advocacy Campaign, TMCF will raise awareness of strategies for responsibly managing student loan repayment, and educate, activate and train a new set of voices: the HBCU community, including more than 300,000 public and private HBCU students, staff and professors, targeted members of Congress, and TMCF corporate partners.

Raise awareness

• Launch #INTHEBLACK Student Loan Repayment Advocacy Campaign to amplify ideas around loan repayment and financial responsibility through social media
• Engage new stakeholders through advocacy with members of the Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus and congressional authorizers and appropriators
• Conduct focus groups and collect polling data related to student loan repayment

Educate, train and activate stakeholders

• Build a coalition of likeminded organizations and groups to support work
• Host a Civic Engagement Federal Financial Aid Advocacy Conference including a Hill Day
• Plan HBCU campus visits

Propose realistic legislative objectives

• Create a resource guide made available both online and in print for students, parents, HBCU faculty and staff, Members of Congress and recent graduates
• Introduce #INTHEBLACK public policy goals around student loan terms and repayment

Propose realistic personal outcomes

• Encourage and highlight scholarships, grants and fully funded higher education graduate programs through the #INTHEBLACK website, which will also calculate loan repayment options and opportunities
• Encourage in-state public HBCUs to reduce costs and develop easier ways to apply for aid

May/June

Coalition-building

Research

#INTHEBLACK content development

June

Website and content development

HBCU conference calls

TMCF corporate partner engagement

July

#INTHEBLACK campaign rollout (website, press release, etc.)

Begin engagement with TMCF member-schools

Congressional meetings

August

Social media campaign posting and digital advertising outreach continues for length of grant

September

HBCU campus visits

Congressional Meetings

Civic Engagement Federal Financial Aid Advocacy Conference with Hill Day, presidential campaign engagement, and op-ed

October

Stakeholder outreach and HBCU campus engagement

Follow-up with conference attendees

November

HBCU student engagement at 2016 TMCF Leadership Institute

Follow-up Bipartisan Congressional engagement