Costs

The Black Birthright program fee is $6,800 USD. This amount covers both the Scholar’s participation in The Salon: Awakening Your African Mind (year-long educational program preceding travel), and their travel expenses.

Please note that it costs approximately $16,000 to put one Scholar through the full Black Birthright program - The Salon and travel to Africa. This amount is heavily subsidized by The Tunstall Family and the generosity of Tunstall Foundation donors.

The Scholar’s and Tunstall Foundation’s combined contributions cover:

  • Scholar’s participation in The Salon: Awakening Your African Mind (year-long educational program preceding travel)

  • Transport to/from airport in US

  • Transport to/from airport in country

  • Flights

  • Hotel accommodations

  • Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner daily

  • Bottled water

  • Private transportation in country

  • Tour guides

  • Translators

  • Entry to all tour sites and activity fees

  • Travel insurance

IMPORTANT - Additionally, Scholars are expected to cover the following costs independently:

  • Passport application fees

  • Costs for travel immunizations (See the Health section of our website for additional information.)

  • Souvenirs

  • Supplemental meals/snacks

Raising Funds to Participate

Scholars have ample opportunity to raise the funds required for travel and travel-related expenses. The Tunstall Foundation provides fundraising infrastructure, guidance and ongoing support to ensure that all Scholars, regardless of their financial circumstances, are empowered to gather the required funds.

More specifically, The Tunstall Foundation provides the following support:

  • Multiple fundraising options: a) Direct donor contributions; b) Selling popcorn via DoubleGood

  • Technology infrastructure for Scholars to share fundraising links digitally, collect electronic payments and automatically distribute donor receipts

  • Dedicated fundraising kick-off meeting to explain technology setup, share strategies, and address questions

  • Detailed “how-to” guide offering fundraising strategies, best-practices, FAQs, phone scripts, email scripts, and text scripts

  • Weekly emails to remind Scholars about fundraising goals, strategies, and best practices

  • Ongoing, one-on-one phone and email support to assist Scholars as needed

Other Important Things to Know

  1. Scholars have plenty of time to gather the required funds. Scholars are notified of their acceptance to Black Birthright 9 months before fees are due. Meaning, Scholars begin participating in Black Birthright programming long before their fees are due and can begin cost planning and fundraising immediately after acceptance.

  2. Scholars can defer their participation in Black Birthright. If a Scholar is accepted into Black Birthright, but does not believe they will be able to raise/gather the required funds within 9 months, the Scholar may defer their participation in Black Birthright to the following year to allow additional time for fundraising.

    Example:

    Scholar A is accepted into Black Birthright 2025. Scholar A does not believe they will be able to gather all required funds before the February 2026 payment deadline.

    Scholar A chooses to defer their participation and joins the Black Birthright 2026 cohort.

    Scholar A will now participate in The Salon (year-long educational programming) during the 2026 - 2027 school year and will travel to Africa in July 2027.

    Scholar A’s program fee is due in February 2027. Scholar A now has 19 months to gather all required funds.

    Note: This option is available only to applicants in 8th, 9th or 10th grades at the time of application. Applicants in 11th grade at the time of application cannot exercise the deferral option.

  3. Scholars are not required to travel. Scholars can participate in Black Birthright’s educational programming, The Salon: Awakening Your African Mind, and pay a one-time $1,400 fee when program fees are due in February. If the Scholar exercises this option, they will not travel, but they will remain Black Birthright Scholars and are considered active participants in the program.