NCAT Launches Program To Boost Enrollment Of Black Men At HBCUs

The program allows Black male students to connect and speak openly about the struggles they face while pursing their degrees.

As the enrollment of Black men at HBCUs continues to decrease, North Carolina A&T University has launched a new program for male students and faculty to support one another and stay in school.

Aggie M.E.N., an acronym for Male Empowerment Network, provides mentorship and events focusing on the well-being of Black men at NCAT. The program is offered to male students at the beginning of these academic journeys and throughout their matriculation.

It aims to address the societal and internal issues that can prevent many Black men from completing their degrees. By engaging Black male youth in tutoring sessions, communal events, and campus activities, they hope to increase graduation rates and sustain a pipeline of enrollment at HBCUs.

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While NCAT takes direct action to keep Black young men in higher education, these concerns linger across many institutions. NBC News revealed new statistics confirming that Black men’s enrollment at HBCUs has reached their lowest rates in 50 years. According to the American Institute for Boys and Men, these rates have dropped 25% since 2010.

“This is potentially a crisis for the country as a whole,” said Dr. Richard Reeves, who studied the factors that have led to this jarring statistic.

“If HBCUs can’t be a place where Black men want to go and do better, then that doesn’t bode very well for the entire higher education system.”

However, NCAT’s initiative to address this gap for its current Black male students could help resolve the issue.

Reeves added, “If HBCUs are a crucial ladder for upward economic mobility, and they are, we do see very good evidence that Black students who attend HBCUs will get a boost.”

Since joining, students in Aggie M.E.N. have already begun to see the difference in their educational experience.

“I feel like Aggie M.E.N. put me around a lot of like-minded people and people who have been here before me,” shared Shemi Bukoie, a sophomore at NCAT. “So they’re able to show me what their mistakes [were] and what worked for them, and having that guidance has allowed me to be successful.”