The HBCU Foundation, a Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit whose aim is to provide scholarship aid to deserving students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities, announced on Monday, a $50,000 grant from the leading academic publishing company, Springer Nature.

More than three quarters of our nation's HBCUs offer graduate and professional programs at the masters and doctoral level. During the past decade, Springer Nature has published more than 3,000 articles in their journals from HBCU authors working in graduate programs, representing more than 12% of the published research output from such programs. The major gift from Springer Nature, lends critical support in the form of scholarships, to deserving HBCU students in the areas of humanities, social science, STEM and medical programs.

"As we navigate these unchartered waters, we are more resolved in our focus, as well as more reliant than ever on the support of our corporate partners and donors, who provide key resources to help us continue along in line with our mission of sending students to and through college," commented Daniel Moss, Chairman and Executive Director of The HBCU Foundation. "We are currently in expanding discussions with Springer Nature to ensure maximum impact and sustainability of this collaborative effort and look forward to providing updates along the way," Moss continued.

As a result of the global COVID-19 health crisis, students attending HBCUs, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds face a host of issues. Job loss, access to adequate technology and even essentials such as food and housing, have all served as tremendous disruptions to students' educations, lives and growingly, their mental health. During the month of June, The HBCU Foundation has raised nearly $250,000 in emergency relief and scholarship aid, with scholarships having already been awarded to scholars attending HBCUs such as Morehouse College, Central State, Kentucky State, Howard and Claflin Universities.

Charlotte Liu, Chief Commercial Officer of Springer Nature said: "As a responsible business, we know there is more we need to do to support diversity in the research community as well as in our own organization. By creating this scholarship program with the HBCU Foundation we are taking a constructive step to remove some of the educational barriers faced by students as they embark on study and research, as a positive response to the Black Lives Matter movement."

This initiative sits alongside other Springer Nature outreach which aims to improve access to equitable, quality education and science especially for students and researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, including programs in Germany, the UK, and India.

Earlier this month, Springer Nature launched a collection of freely-available research content from their books, journals and magazines that speak to issues of systemic racism and amplify the voices of Black authors. The Black Lives Matter collection can be accessed here.

For more information on The HBCU Foundation General Scholarship, The HBCU Foundation Emergency Relief Fund, or to find ways to get involved, please visit www.thehbcufoundation.org.