Given their proven track record of influencing the academic success of African Americans, now more than ever greater investment is needed in HBCUs. HBCUs are rooted in faith, community and service. Black churches have long been pillars of the black community and the history and life of black colleges are closely intertwined with faith, values and service to others. Over and over, we are reminded of the heroes and leaders who have emerged from HBCUs. Martin Luther King, Jr. For more than years, HBCUs have been educating minorities, giving them economic opportunities and instilling great values.
Historically, HBCUs served a vital function. Today they continue to benefit Black students thanks to lower tuition rates, a thriving community, and a higher number of STEM graduates. This section details why HBCUs appeal to students and offer advantages compared to other schools. At the end of , the total U. Black students graduate with much higher student loan debt than white students. Black borrowers also default on student loans more often.
Black bachelor's degree-holders default at five times the rate of white graduates, due, in part, to higher student loans and less family wealth. Lower tuition rates at HBCUs help students limit their borrowing. Even the most expensive HBCUs charge less than the national average in tuition. Many public HBCUs offer students in-state tuition discounts.
HBCU students also report higher rates of receiving financial aid compared to the national average. The racial wealth gap starts early and continues through college.
Black college graduates accrue more student loan debt than white graduates, and the racial student loan gap only widens after graduation. The problem compounds for college students who take out loans but never earn a degree. HBCUs help close the racial wealth gap. By helping Black students earn a degree, these schools increase graduates' earning potential.
HBCUs offer a thriving, supportive community. Black students report a better sense of belonging compared to their experience at predominantly white institutions PWI. In a Gallup poll , students attending historically Black colleges reported a much higher sense that their professors cared about them. They felt more supported and they more often found mentors, compared with Black students at PWIs.
HBCUs even improve mental health outcomes for students, likely because they face fewer microaggressions and outright instances of racism. HBCUs invest in creating a shared experience and culture for their students, translating to a better learning environment. HBCUs offer alumni networks, more Black faculty members, and more internship opportunities.
Find a program that meets your affordability, flexibility, and education needs through an accredited, online school. HBCUs can be a critical part of the community. HBCUs provide a solid education for students in the community. This includes money spent in the community and after graduation. The same study found that over , jobs were generated by HBCUs and their graduates in local and regional communities. HBCUs are a core part of the community, and they help students succeed after graduation.
What do alumni say about attending an HBCU? We interviewed three HBCU alumni about their choice to attend a historically black college. They discuss their experience on campus, their opportunities after earning a degree, and the best part of attending historically Black colleges and universities.
I decided to attend an HBCU because of the rich tradition that has produced black superheroes like my idol W. Dubois, who attended Fisk University. Further, the pamphlet summarizes the efforts of the Department of Education aimed at strengthening HBCUs, while assuring that higher education programs do not discriminate on the basis of race. Prior to the Civil War, there was no structured higher education system for black students. Public policy and certain statutory provisions prohibited the education of blacks in various parts of the nation.
The Institute for Colored Youth, the first higher education institution for blacks, was founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, in It was followed by two other black institutions--Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania , and Wilberforce University, in Ohio Although these institutions were called universities" or "institutes" fromtheir founding, a major part of their mission in the early years was to provide elementary and secondary schooling for students who had no previous education.
It was not until the early s that HBCUs began to offer courses and programs at the postsecondary level. Following the Civil War, public support for higher education for black students was reflected in the enactment of the Second Morrill Act in The Act required states with racially segregated public higher education systems to provide a land-grant institution for black students whenever a land-grant institution was established and restricted for white students.
After the passage of the Act, public land-grant institutions specifically for blacks were established in each of the southern and border states.
As a result, some new public black institutions were founded, and a number of formerly private black schools came under public control; eventually 16 black institutions were designated as land-grant colleges. These institutions offered courses in agricultural, mechanical, and industrial subjects, but few offered college-level courses and degrees. The U. Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson established a "separate but equal" doctrine in public education.
In validating racially dual public elementary and secondary school systems, Plessy also encouraged black colleges to focus on teacher training to provide a pool of instructors for segregated schools. At the same time, the expansion of black secondary schools reduced the need for black colleges to provide college preparatory instruction. By , more-than 32, students were enrolled in such well known private black institutions as Fisk University, Hampton Institute, Howard University, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Tuskegee Institute, as well as a host of smaller black colleges located in southern and border states.
In the same year, over 43, students were enrolled in public black colleges. HBCUs enrolled 3, students in graduate programs. These private and public institutions mutually served the important mission of providing education for teachers, ministers, lawyers, and doctors for the black population in a racially segregated society.
The addition of graduate programs, mostly at public HBCUs, reflected three Supreme Court decisions in which the "separate but equal" principle of Plessy was applied to graduate and professional education. The decisions stipulated: 1 a state must offer schooling for blacks as soon as it provided it for whites Sinuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, ; 2 black students must receive the same treatment as white students MacLaurin v.
Oklahoma State Regents, ; and 3 a state must provide facilities of comparable quality for black and white students Sweatt v. Painter, Black students increasingly were admitted to traditionally white graduate and professional schools if their program of study was unavailable at HBCUs. In effect, desegregation in higher education began at the post-baccalaureate level. In , the U. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education rejected the "separate but equal" doctrine and held that racially segregated public schools deprive black children of equal protection guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The Plessy decision, which had governed public education policy for more than a half-century, was overturned. Despite the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown , most HBCUs remained segregated with poorer facilities and budgets compared with traditionally white institutions.
Board of Education case and the Civil Rights Act of , higher education gradually began to welcome more Black students; however, many Black learners continued to prefer HBCUs for their educational excellence and commitment to diversity. It's hard to overstate the impact of HBCUs. In an era when exceptional Black students were denied entrance to traditionally white colleges and universities, HBCUs provided an inclusive route to higher education.
Take, for example, the role of HBCUs in the fight for civil rights. Similarly, thousands of HBCU students fought for civil rights in their communities. In , four undergraduates at N. Three students from South Carolina State University were killed in for trying to desegregate bowling alleys in Orangeburg.
Historically, HBCUs have served many purposes. In the 19th and 20th centuries, they provided a route to higher education for Black students excluded from majority-white institutions.
Pursuing an education helped formerly enslaved people gain independence and improve their economic circumstances. HBCUs also helped Black communities protect their traditions. Today, HBCUs continue to occupy an important role in higher education.
The researchers involved in the study point to several possible explanations. HBCUs also limit students' exposure to racial discrimination, which harms physical health.
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