Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., recently announced a $1.5 million award to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) that includes a $1 million grant to establish the Wal-Mart Emergency Assistance Fund and $500,000 in operating support for UNCF member schools.
U.S. Census Bureau research indicates that only 40 percent of the African- American students who enroll in college are able to continue in school through graduation, compared to 60 percent of white students.
The primary cause for this attrition is the lack of resources required for tuition and fees, books and other direct costs of attending college. The Wal-Mart Emergency Assistance Fund would target those individual cases of unmet need.