It has been suggested that Jewish refugees teaching in black colleges be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2018.

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. During the period of segregation in the United States prior to the Civil Rights Act, the overwhelming majority of higher education institutions were predominantly white and completely disqualified or limited African American enrollment.^[1][2] For a century after the end of slavery in the United States in 1865, most colleges and universities in the Southern United States prohibited all African Americans from attending, while institutions in other parts of the country regularly employed quotas to limit admissions of blacks.^[3]

There are 101 HBCUs in the United States, including both public and private institutions (down from the 121 institutions that existed during the 1930s).^[4] Of these remaining HBCU institutions in the United States, 27 offer doctoral programs, 52 offer master's programs, 83 offer bachelor's degree programs, and 38 offer associate degrees.^[5]

History

Cheyney University, first HBCU founded in 1837.

Private institutions

Most HBCUs were established in the South after the American Civil War, often with the assistance of religious missionary organizations based in the northern United States. HBCUs established prior to the American Civil War include Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1837 and Lincoln University in 1854. Wilberforce University was also established prior to the American Civil War; it was founded in 1856 via a collaboration between the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Ohio and the Methodist Episcopal Church (the latter a predominantly white denomination). Wilberforce was the third college to be established in the state of Ohio.

After the end of the Civil War, Shaw University, founded in 1865, was the first HBCU to be established in the South. The year 1865 also saw the foundation of Storer College (1865-1955) in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Storer's former campus and buildings have since been incorporated into Harper's Ferry National Park.

Shaw University, first HBCU in the South founded in 1865.

Public institutions

In 1862, the federal government's Morrill Act provided for land grant colleges in each state. Some educational institutions established under the Morrill Act in the North and West were open to blacks. But 17 states, mostly in the South, required their systems to be segregated and generally excluded black students from their land grant colleges. In response, Congress passed the second Morrill Act of 1890, also known as the Agricultural College Act of 1890, requiring states to establish a separate land grant college for blacks if blacks were being excluded from the existing land grant college. Many of the HBCUs were founded by states to satisfy the Second Morrill Act. These land grant schools continue to receive annual federal funding for their research, extension, and outreach activities.

Sports

In the 1920s and 1930s, historically Black colleges developed a strong interest in athletics. Sports were expanding rapidly at state universities, but very few black stars were recruited there. Race newspapers hailed athletic success as a demonstration of racial progress. Black schools hired coaches, recruited and featured stellar athletes, and set up their own leagues.^[6][7]

World War II

In the 1930s, many Jewish intellectuals fleeing Europe after the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany immigrated to the United States and found work teaching in historically black colleges.^[8]

HBCUs made great contributions to the US war effort. One example is Tuskegee University in Alabama, where the Tuskegee Airmen trained and attended classes.^[9]

Florida's black junior colleges

After the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the legislature of Florida, with support from various counties, started a series of eleven junior colleges serving the African-American population. The purpose was to show that separate but equal education was working in Florida. Prior to this, there had been only one junior college in Florida serving African Americans, Booker T. Washington Junior College, in Pensacola. The new ones, with their year of founding, are

• Gibbs Junior College (1957)
• Roosevelt Junior College (1958)
• Volusia County Junior College (1958)
• Hampton Junior College (1958)
• Rosenwald Junior College (1958)
• Suwannee River Junior College (1959)
• Carver Junior College (1960)
• Collier-Blocker Junior College (1960)
• Lincoln Junior College (1960)
• Jackson Junior College (1961)
• Johnson Junior College (1962)

The new junior colleges began as extensions of black high schools; they used the same facilities and often the same faculty. Some built their own buildings after a few years. After passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandating an end to school segregation, the colleges were all abruptly closed. Only a fraction of the students and faculty were able to transfer to the previously all-white junior colleges, where they found, at best, an indifferent reception.^[10]

Since 1965

A reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 established a program for direct federal grants to HBCUs, to support their academic, financial, and administrative capabilities.^[11][12] Part B specifically provides for formula-based grants, calculated based on each institution's Pell grant eligible enrollment, graduation rate, and percentage of graduates who continue post baccalaureate education in fields where African Americans are underrepresented. Some colleges with a predominantly black student body are not classified as HBCUs because they were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after the implementation of the Sweatt v. Painter (1950) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954) rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court (the court decisions which outlawed racial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Deese Clock Tower at North Carolina A&T State University, the largest HBCU in the nation.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter signed an executive order to distribute adequate resources and funds to strengthen the nation's public and private HBCUs. His executive order created the White House Initiative on historically black colleges and universities (WHIHBCU), which is a federally funded program that operates within the U.S. Department of Education.^[13] In 1989, George H. W. Bush continued Carter's pioneering spirit by signing Executive Order 12677, which created the presidential advisory board on HBCUs, to counsel the government and the secretary on the future development of these organizations.^[14]

Starting in 2001, directors of libraries of several HBCUs began discussions about ways to pool their resources and work collaboratively. In 2003, this partnership was formalized as the HBCU Library Alliance, "a consortium that supports the collaboration of information professionals dedicated to providing an array of resources designed to strengthen historically black colleges and Universities and their constituents."^[15]

In 2015, the Bipartisan Congressional Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus was established by U.S. Representatives Alma S. Adams and Bradley Byrne. The caucus advocates for HBCUs on Capitol Hill.^[16] As of September 2017, there are 62 elected politicians who are members of the caucus.^[17]

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education deems one week in the Fall as "National HBCU Week". During this week, several conferences and events are held in Washington, D.C. that discuss and celebrate HBCUs, as well as acknowledge select scholars and alumni from the HBCU community.^[18]

Current status

In 2015, the share of black students attending HBCUs had dropped to 8.5% of the total number of black students enrolled in degree-granting institutions nationwide. This figure is a decline from the 13% of black students that enrolled in an HBCU in the year 2000 and the 17% that enrolled in 1980. This is a result of desegregation, rising incomes and increased access to financial aid, which has created more college options for black students.^[4]

The percentages of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded to black students by HBCUs has decreased over time. HBCUs awarded 35% of the bachelor's degrees and 21% of the master's degrees earned by blacks in 1976-77, compared with the 14% and 6% respectively of bachelor's and master's degrees earned by blacks in 2014-15. Additionally, the percentage of black doctoral degree recipients who received their degrees from HBCUs was lower in 2014-15 (12%) than in 1976-77 (14%).^[19]

The number of total students enrolled at an HBCU rose by 32% between 1976 and 2015, from 223,000 to 293,000. In comparison, total enrollment in degree-granting institutions nationwide increased by 81%, from 11 million to 20 million, during the same period.^[19]

Although HBCUs were originally founded to educate black students, their diversity has increased over time. In 2015, students who were either white, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Native American made up 22% of total enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15% in 1976.^[20]

In 2007, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund published a study of minority recruiting practices by Fortune 400 companies and by government agencies that found that 13% of minority college graduates were recruited from HBCUs while 87% of minority college students were recruited from non-HBCU institutions.^[21]

In 2006, the National Center for Education Statistics released a study showing that HBCUs had a $10.2 billion positive impact on the nation's economy with 35% coming from the multiplier effect.^[22]

Racial diversity post-2000

Following the enactment of Civil Rights laws in the 1960s, many educational institutions in the United States that receive federal funding have undertaken affirmative action to increase their racial diversity. Some historically black colleges and universities now have non-black majorities, including West Virginia State University and Bluefield State College, whose student bodies have had large white majorities since the mid-1960s.^[4]

Because many HBCUs have made a concerted effort to maintain enrollment levels and because they often offer relatively affordable tuition, the percentage of non-African American enrollment has risen.^[23][24] The following table highlights HBCUs with high non-African American enrollments:

Other HBCUs with relatively high non-African American student populations

The percentage of white student populations currently attending historically black colleges and universities according to statistical profiles compiled by the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2011 edition are Langston University (12%); Shaw University (12%); Tennessee State University (12%); University of Maryland Eastern Shore (12%); and North Carolina Central University (10%). The U.S. News and World Reports statistical profiles indicate that several other HBCUs have relatively significant percentages of non-African American student populations consisting of Asian, Hispanic, international, and white American students.^[37]

Special academic programs

HBCU libraries have formed the HBCU Library Alliance. That alliance, together with Cornell University, have a joint program to digitize HBCU collections. The project is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.^[38]

Additionally, more historically black colleges and universities are offering online education programs. As of November 23, 2010, nineteen historically black colleges and universities offer online degree programs.^[39] The growth in these programs is driven by partnerships with online educational entrepreneurs like Ezell Brown.

Intercollegiate sports

NCAA Division I has two historically black athletic conferences: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference. The top football teams from the conferences have played each other in postseason bowl games: the Pelican Bowl (1970s), the Heritage Bowl (1990s), and the Celebration Bowl (2010s). These conferences are home to all Division I HBCUs except for Hampton University and Tennessee State University. Tennessee State has been a member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1986, while Hampton left the MEAC in 2018 for the Big South Conference.

The mostly HBCU Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference are part of the NCAA Division II, whereas the HBCU Gulf Coast Athletic Conference is part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I.

Notable alumni

HBCUs have a rich legacy of matriculating many African-American leaders in the fields of business, law, science, education, military service, entertainment, art, and sports. This list of alumni includes people such as Martin Luther King Jr., who began his studies at Morehouse College, following in the footsteps of his father, Martin Luther King, Sr.. Oprah Winfrey attended Tennessee State University to pursue a broadcasting career. W. E. B. Du Bois, relying on money donated by neighbors, attended Fisk University, from 1885 to 1888. After Dubois earned his doctorate, he became a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Clark Atlanta University, between 1897 and 1910.^[40]Althea Gibson entered Florida A&M University on a full athletic scholarship. Michael Strahan played one season of high school football, which was enough for him to get a scholarship offer from Texas Southern University. Thurgood Marshall attended Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore and was placed in classes with the best students. He later went on to graduate from Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania and Howard University School of Law. In 1933, he graduated first in his law class at Howard. Roscoe Lee Browne also attended Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree, in 1946. Browne also occasionally returned to Lincoln, between 1946-52, to teach English, French and comparative literature. Spike Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a BA in mass communication from Morehouse. Kamala Harris, the first black senator from California, received her bachelor's degree from Howard University. Rod Paige earned a bachelor's degree from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. Anika Noni Rose attended Florida A&M University where she earned a bachelor's degree in theater. The Tuskegee Airmen were educated at Tuskegee University. Douglas Wilder received his bachelor's degree from Virginia Union University and his law degree from Howard University School of Law. Astronaut Dr. Ronald McNair graduated from North Carolina A&T State University. NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and Leon H. Sullivan, developer of the Sullivan Principles used to end apartheid in South Africa, attended West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University). Ruth Simmons is a Dillard University graduate that became the first black president of an Ivy League institution (Brown University).

See also

• A Different World
• Beyoncé 2018 Coachella performance
• Black Ivy League
• Honda Battle of the Bands
• List of historically black colleges and universities
• Minority-serving institution
• Thurgood Marshall College Fund
• United Negro College Fund

References

Further reading

External links

• National Center for Education Statistics' College Navigator information about HBCUs