Critics have called them a race-based anachronism. Others have said worse: They’re inferior, they’re in need of a new mission, or they should be managed by for-profit entities. Yet, the data show that historically Black colleges and universities [HBCUs] contribute significantly to the Black middle class and the nation’s economy, and in spite of fewer resources, graduate impressive numbers of majors in education and in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM]. Although most have a majority Black student body, the faculty at many HBCUs is strikingly diverse, sometimes more than 50% non-Black. Moreover, these institutions have never discriminated on the basis of race.
But, in an age of increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S., do we still need HBCUs?
Chancellor Charlie Nelms of North Carolina Central University in Durham says yes. “HBCUs provide a culturally affirming, psychologically supportive environment. Students don’t have to prove they belong here.†NCCU provides its students “intentional, intrusive, focused†academic assistance, says Nelms.
HBCUs represent about 3% of colleges in the U.S. but enroll 12% of all Black college students and produce 23% of all Black college graduates. Remarkably, this small group of colleges confers 40% of all STEM degrees and 60% of all engineering degrees earned by Black students. They also educate half of the country’s Black teachers and 40% of all Black health professionals. And they do this with much less funding support than that of traditionally White institutions.
Solange Sayers, a graduating senior at Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana, has been very happy with her HBCU experience. Originally from St. Lucia, Sayers was elected Miss Grambling last year. She is the first non-American to hold this post. “I came to this country with an open mind,†she says. “I was goal-oriented and wanted to take advantage of the opportunities here.â€
One challenge she did encounter at Grambling was the school’s unpreparedness for the influx of internationals that came on campus in 2006–500 students from Africa, Belize, Haiti, Nepal, and the West Indies. “Even dealing with our accents proved trying,†recalls Sayers. But the school worked to overcome the problems and the situation improved. Sayers developed relationships by joining various campus organizations, including honor societies and a national sorority, Zeta Phi Beta,
and it was her friends who encouraged her to run for Miss Grambling. Sayers, who studies nursing, chose Grambling because of the generous financial aid she was offered, not because it was an HBCU; she has since won scholarships.Tyron Young, a senior at Morehouse College in Atlanta, initially considered attending the University of Maryland but changed his mind after talking with the assistant principal at his high school, a charter school in Baltimore called National Academy. “The idea of attending a Black school appealed to me,†Young says. “I’ve had experiences here I would never have had anywhere else–singing backup for Aretha Franklin and on a soundtrack for Spike Lee, for example.†Young, who plans to teach, also has received a Bill and Camille Cosby scholarship and talks with Bill Cosby personally.
Young grew up in Baltimore surrounded by African Americans and attended schools that were all Black, so for college he wanted the comfort and familiarity of a majority Black student body with which he would share certain commonalities. Yet, he enjoys working with all kinds of people: He is now working with a racially diverse group to establish a student mentoring program in Washington, D.C.
Marc Lamont Hill, host of Black Enterprise‘s Our World television show and Associate Professor of Education at Columbia University Teachers College, says HBCUs must be supported, especially because of the way they value their students and work to increase their students’ confidence. But he says there are problems the schools must address. An issue Hill sees as particularly regressive is the cultural conservatism that he says pervades all HBCUs: for example, rules forbidding choices like dreadlocks or braids or mandating attendance at chapel services. “These schools have only a veneer of progressivism,†he says. “Many don’t even have African American studies departments, and many are anti-gay.â€
Other challenges Hill mentions include less-competitive financial aid packages, fewer resources, and a less-flexible curriculum. But he also feels that HBCUs are no longer as esteemed in the Black community as they once were–now that they have a choice, the best Black students can and often do go to the Ivy League or other elite schools, although it’s not unheard of for Black students to turn down
Ivy League acceptances to attend HBCUs. Hill, who attended Morehouse for two years, says HBCUs “are more relevant now than ever,†but they must address these issues if they want to provide intellectual leadership.A 35-year-old New York City public school administrator (who asked not to be named) graduated from Hampton University in 1999, looks back at his college years fondly, but, like Hill, he sees room for improvement. “The best part of my college experience was pledging my fraternity, Omega Psi Phi,†he says. “But the rules–such as the curfews, not wearing a hat indoors, and not being allowed to own a microwave–were too constricting and didn’t allow room for personal growth.â€
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In spite of the nurturing HBCUs provide their students, their graduation rates are lower (about 38%) than that of Black students who attend traditionally White schools (about 46%). But this may be more a reflection of the student body HBCUs serve, one that is typically less affluent (65% of HBCU students are eligible for Pell Grants), often less prepared academically, and often first generation college students. And HBCUs typically have tiny endowments; others struggle with debt. So obtaining resources that could help struggling students avoid dropping out isn’t always an option.
Nelms points out, however, that the variation among HBCUs is actually greater than that between HBCUs and traditionally White institutions. Spelman College, for example, has an outstanding graduation rate of 80%–one of the highest in the nation–with 40% of its students Pell Grant eligible.
But Paul Bryant, Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Retention at Grambling, says the challenges of small endowments aren’t new. “We’ve never had the resources White institutions had, but we never used that as an excuse for not succeeding. We’ve always served students that represented a range of ability, but your situation cannot dictate your success.†Bryant says that historically the faculty and staff at Black schools taught students to be the best intellectually and socially, that they had high expectations and a vested interest in seeing them graduate. Now, he says, that’s no longer the case.
“Today’s students are not graduating, they’re not persevering
academically, and they’re not competitive,†Bryant says. “They’re too easily distracted, they lack a clear understanding of why they’re there, they lack drive, and they have no connection to their own vision and no realistic idea of what their careers require.â€Bryant says many of his students don’t really value education or academic success, and that the highest GPAs are often earned by Caribbean, African, and Asian students. (Asians make up 1% of students at HBCUs, according to DiverseEducation.com.) He also says the atmosphere at predominantly White schools is different. “More students are serious, so as a result there’s a kind of positive peer pressure.†At HBCUs, he says, the diversity within the Black community is not addressed. “We’re not all the same, but this isn’t acknowledged.â€
Some of the problems Bryant laments aren’t unique to HBCUs, however. Regarding the challenges, someone wrote online:
- Replace HBCU with small, liberal arts college. Rinse and repeat. Replace small, liberal arts college with public flagship research institution. Rinse and repeat. Replace public flagship research institution with private research university. Rinse and repeat.
Is the writer a dyspeptic cynic? Or just recognizing that all may not be well in all institutions of higher learning in the U.S.? The nation’s overall six-year college graduation rate, 56% according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, isn’t exactly impressive. And those who do graduate may not have actually learned very much. According to a new book, Academically Adrift, students make stronger gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills if they are required to do substantial work, such as at least 20 pages of writing in a semester course, and more than 40 pages of reading a week in a semester course. Faculty interaction, an area in which HBCUs excel, was also found to be associated with greater gains in student learning.
According to a report released in December, “The Educational Effectiveness of Historically Black Colleges and Universities,†HBCUs play a significant role in preparing their students for success. The graduates of certain HBCUs, for example, Xavier University of Louisiana, Spelman, and Morehouse, were successfully admitted to “graduate, medical, engineering, law schools … in percentages … equaling or exceeding those of African American students that attended†traditionally
White schools. The report also noted strengths unique to HBCUs: faculty role models and their dedication to teaching, a socially supportive environment and greater interaction with faculty, an emphasis on career exploration and leadership, and their greater success in graduating higher numbers of Black STEM majors.The report noted, however, that from the 1970s to the 1990s, significant changes in the results of attending an HBCU had occurred. In the 1970s, matriculating at an HBCU was associated with higher wages and a greater chance of graduation, compared with attending a predominantly White school. By the 1990s, however, there was a 20% decline in the relative wages of HBCU grads compared with Black students who graduated from non-HBCUs, although SAT scores of students accepted into HBCUs had also risen during that same period.
President Obama has called for all Americans who graduate high school to be prepared for college or one year of job training so that we as a nation can compete globally. Nelms says that providing support for HBCUs, which have never received equal funding, must be part of that mandate. At NCCU, students are assigned academic advisers who reach out to students as a problem is developing–not afterwards. Faculty learning communities, housing freshmen and sophomores separately while they adjust to college life, and immersing them in an academic culture are all part of an overall strategy to support student success, says Nelms. “It’s not episodic.â€
Are HBCUs for every Black student? “Black students should consider HBCUs, but like everyone else, they should go to schools where their needs will be met,†Nelms advises. Going to college with a clear idea of what you hope to get out of it helps, too. Sayers said she approached Grambling with a “severe open-mindedness†and a determination to have a “university experience like no other.â€
Did you attend an HBCU or a traditionally White institution? What do you think of your experience? Are HBCUs still relevant, or no longer necessary? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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