Bennett College doesn’t have the profile of other schools heavily impacted by Trump administration policies, according to our recent analysis of how the president’s proposals would affect every college and university in the state.
But Teresa Hardee has still spent the first eight months of her tenure as interim president planning for potentially significant revenue losses. And for good reason.
Despite a sticker price of $32,000, Bennett brought in less than $1,200 in tuition and fee revenue per full-time student equivalent in 2024. As a result, tuition and fees made up just 1% of Bennett’s core revenues, compared to a median of 43% at the country’s private, nonprofit baccalaureate colleges, according to data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Instead, nearly half of Bennett’s $15.4 million in operating revenue comes from government grants and contracts, including $2.5 million in federal student aid and $5.9 million from programs to support historically Black colleges and universities.
With Trump’s overt antipathy for identity-based programs and recent news that the Pell grant program, which supports low-income students, is facing an $11.5 billion shortfall, that dependence on federal funding looks like a major risk. Any cuts to Pell or changes to its eligibility criteria would be particularly significant for Bennett’s students: Nearly three-quarters of them receive the grants, bringing in $900,000 of revenue each year.
Hardee said she’s “hopeful” that Congress will maintain funding for at least this year: “Is that a good word? I know it’s not a strategy, but that’s a word.”
Hardee has been modeling different scenarios—flat federal funding, a 5% drop, a 10% drop—to figure out what Bennett would need to do to maintain its support for students without pushing them to loans or discounting tuition, which could exacerbate any budget holes.
“If this lever is pulled, what’s our reaction,’” Hardee said of her thinking. “What do I already have in place that doesn’t stop us in mid-stream?”
Drawing on her background as a CPA, Hardee said her primary goal is to diversify Bennett’s revenue by using the federal grants they currently have as investments to increase enrollment. The rest of the revenue currently comes from private gifts (22%), investment returns (17%), and other unspecified sources (12%), according to IPEDS.
Bennett is also celebrating its centennial this year, providing an opportunity to embark on a major fundraising push. The proceeds would go to renovating a closed dorm, building a student success hub, and expanding the school’s academics, especially in women’s health and wellness.
As one of just two HBCU women’s colleges in the country, the one thing that’s not changing is Bennett’s purpose.
”We are women. We are Black,” Hardee said. “It’s our mission, and we’re not changing our mission.”