UNCF has announced a $12 million gift from the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation that will provide permanent endowment funding to 12 historically Black colleges and universities. The Dimon Foundation HBCU gift comes as Black colleges continue confronting a major foundation funding gap and demonstrating an outsized role in producing Black STEM graduates.

UNCF announced Thursday that the donation will establish the Dimon Fund to Advance Economic Opportunity within the organization’s $1.5 billion capital campaign. Each of the 12 selected UNCF member institutions will receive $1 million in permanent endowment capital.

The recipients are Benedict College, Dillard University, Edward Waters University, Huston-Tillotson University, Jarvis Christian University, Johnson C. Smith University, Miles College, Oakwood University, Shaw University, Stillman College, Tuskegee University and Voorhees University.

UNCF said the schools were selected based on leadership and governance as well as their track records of preparing educators, nurses and other healthcare professionals. Several of the institutions also have credit-transfer partnerships in health-related fields designed to move students more efficiently from college into careers.

The money will count toward each school’s $5 million institutional match within UNCF’s pooled endowment fund. UNCF said growing those endowments can strengthen institutional balance sheets, support long-range planning and give schools more capacity to invest in research, academics and infrastructure.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, previously served on UNCF’s board of directors. His wife, Judy Dimon, serves as president of the Dimon Foundation, which focuses on career-connected learning and economic opportunity for young people.

“Our system of HBCUs continue to serve as the springboard to success for thousands of students in pursuit of the American Dream,” Jamie and Judy Dimon said in the announcement.

UNCF President and CEO Michael L. Lomax said endowments give institutions greater independence and the ability to plan for generations of students. The organization says it has raised more than $6 billion since its founding in 1944 and awards more than 13,000 scholarships each year.