Coppin State University’s best perk? $50,000 to buy a house

California natives Matthew and Gilliann Kenerly might never have bought their Reservoir Hill home without a $50,000 down payment from their employer: Coppin State University.

The couple, who both work in the West Baltimore university’s writing center, took advantage of one of Maryland’s most generous live-where-you-work incentives, bundling the grant with $15,000 from another Baltimore homebuying assistance program to comfortably pay for their home without draining their savings.

Coppin’s program, launched in 2023 with $300,000 in state funding, has helped faculty and staff members buy six homes near campus. The small, historically Black college hopes it can secure more money next year; a dozen employees have signed up to participate.

The university’s homebuying program is its latest effort to bolster interest in the urban campus of about 2,000 by leaning into affordability. It’s seen applications skyrocket after offering in-state tuition to thousands of students coming from states with no HBCUs. Now it’s betting the prospect of homeownership will attract employees and encourage them to put down roots.

To qualify for down-payment help, awardees must be full-time Coppin State employees, participate in homeowner counseling and live in one of two West Baltimore ZIP codes: 21216 or neighboring 21217. If the homeowner stays for at least five years, the grant doesn’t have to be repaid.

Coppin State University President Anthony L. Jenkins believed having more homeowners in West Baltimore would help beautify the campus’s surroundings — which include Upton, Coppin Heights and Druid Heights — and that faculty would jump at the chance to have shorter commutes and lower monthly housing costs, according to his chief of staff, Ann-Marie Waterman.

“As we often say, we don’t have the ‘curb appeal,’” Waterman said. “Parents come, rightfully so, and think, ‘Well, how safe is my child here?’”

The university has long struggled with shrinking enrollment and tight finances. But over the last few years, interest in the HBCU has exploded, in part because it offers Maryland’s most affordable in-state tuition — about $7,500 — to many out-of-state applicants.

But affordability isn’t just a student issue, Waterman said. It also affects faculty and staff seeking a landing spot in a tough real estate environment.

She said Jenkins connected with Gov. Wes Moore and other state leaders over shared beliefs in using public funds for strategic redevelopment.

Moore, a Democrat, has pledged to find more ways to uplift and grow the city’s long-neglected west side.

The grant funds came from a state program called the Seed Community Development Anchor Institution Fund, which offers money to hospitals, educational institutions and foundations that use it to invest in their communities.

After Coppin State received the funds, it held an information session with faculty. About 12 people applied for the program, dubbed Near the Nest — a nod to the university’s eagle mascot.

Waterman said the university will apply for more state funding and is confident about being able to offer additional Near the Nest grants.

Campus administrators looked at average home costs in the area and calculated what a 20% down payment might amount to, landing at around $50,000 per home — a figure that even full-time faculty members might find difficult to cobble together.

The neighborhoods within the required ZIP codes have median home sales prices of about $136,000 to $170,000, data from Redfin shows, which means half of the homes there sell for more and half go for less. The citywide median in 2025 rose to $235,000, a 7% increase from the year before, according to Live Baltimore, and remains well under the regional median of about $435,000.

Other incentives in the state award large sums to aspiring homeowners as loans, often on the condition that they be paid back upon sale, refinance or after 30 years. The grant programs available tend to be smaller, though the ones offered in Baltimore can be layered and combined with Coppin State’s award to make the monthly mortgage payments even lower.

Dan Ellis, executive director at Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore, which provides the counseling services, said buyers typically require anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 to make down payments and close on a house. Coppin State’s program, the largest one he’s aware of, he said, means people can choose homes they love.

“They’re putting it at a level that is, quite frankly, transformative,” Ellis said, “and building a lot of wealth for people.”

Christopher Robinson, an associate professor of social work at Coppin, was one of the first to take advantage of the program. He bought a renovated four-bedroom house in Upton, planting a sturdy foundation in Baltimore.

Robinson said he feels invested in West Baltimore in a way he might not have if he had continued renting. Now he’s close to his work, his church and downtown.

“Getting a chance to really be able to purchase here helped me to learn Baltimore much more, helped me to really learn the spirit of the people in the community,” Robinson said, “and to really begin to see the charm in Charm City.”