Billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Plan To Bring Charter Schools To Stillman College, Tuskegee University—And HBCUs Nationwide

ByAsia Alexander,

Forbes Staff.

M

ichael Bloomberg, who donated $600 million in 2024 to support medical schools at four historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), has a new plan to back Black education: Funding K-12 charter schools on HBCU campuses. On Thursday, the billionaire former New York City mayor’s Bloomberg Philanthropies and the education nonprofit City Fund announced a $20 million initiative to fund two public schools in Alabama, one at Stillman College and one at Tuskegee University, that will create direct pipelines into HBCUs and promote career success.

The funds will go toward the D.C. Wolfe Charter School in Shorter, Alabama—which is being converted from D.C. Wolfe Elementary School and expected to open near Tuskegee University in fall 2026—and the I Dream Big Academy on Stillman’s campus, which recently opened as the first HBCU-charter school partnership in Alabama. Students who attend the schools will be able to take dual-enrollment courses at the universities and participate in community internships.