Strategic partnerships between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the Federal Government have led to bold and innovative scientific discoveries and mechanism for student development that have far-reaching implications for the future.  Recently, The White House Initiative on HBCUs released reports that provide details on the billions of dollars that 31 federal agencies have provided to HBCUs over the last 5 years to support Federal agency program priorities.  Although, the revenue to HBCUs from Federal agencies is only a fraction of total revenue provided to all institutions of higher educations, HBCUs individually and collectively have developed many cutting-edge initiatives and student-centered programs though federal partnerships.  The editors of this compendium seek to publish high quality empirical studies from principal investigators and co-principal investigators of federally funded projects at HBCUs.  For more information, please visit http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/whhbcu/2014/02/04/call-for-papers-%E2%80%90-the-white-house-initiative-on-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/.