Welcome Freshmen: A Surge in HBCU Enrollment by Tamice Namae
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of students that enroll in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). These colleges offer an opportunity for black individuals to get an education and build the lives of the minority population. According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, several HBCUs have realized a surge in student enrollment in 2018. Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina realized an 18% increase in 2018 in total enrollment which is 1, 678. Enrollment for first year students increased to 184 which is a 57% increase for transfer enrollment while the total first year class had 418 students.
Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina reported a tremendous growth that surpassed all the previous since 2014. In 2018, they had a total of 5,190 students which is an increase of 1.8% from last fall. For first year students, the enrollment has been above 900 for the past three years with 2018 realizing 933 students. Not only did enrollment increase but also the number of graduates which saw a 24% increase in comparison to 2017 (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 2018).
For Bowie State University in Maryland, there was tremendous growth as well with 6,320 total students, a 3% increase from 2017. They had a 2% increase in undergraduate enrollment and a 5% increase in graduate enrollment. Meanwhile, North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro was not left behind. In 2018, they had a total of 12,000 students enrolled with 2,201 being the number of freshmen enrolled. This was a 2.2% increase over the past and this is the university with the highest enrollment number in the country (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 2018).
Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri witnessed a 19% increase from 2017 in student enrollment which was 1,716 students. This was the highest recorded number of first year students in 10 years. Talladega College in Alabama had impressive records of student enrollment which was 1217 students in 2018 from 782 in 2017, a 55.5 % increase. For Grambling State University in Louisiana, they had a sustained increase in student enrollment over the past four years. In 2018, they had a total to 5,208 students enrolled compared to 5000 over the past year (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 2018). Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, broke its own history in 2018. The first year students’ enrollment was 920, the largest since the school inception. Even though the largest number of students come from within the state and neighboring regions, the number of international students also tripled from 2014.
Jason Johnson is excited about the increasing numbers in HBCUs in his article, “The Black Renaissance Is Real: HBCUs See Record Growth in 2017”. He went to Howard University’s homecoming and was excited by the bigger crowds, more transfer students and new dorms being built. The number of incoming students in HBCUs in at an all time high with various colleges and universities reporting impressive numbers. The negative narrative is changing and more students are embracing HBCUs. Initially, HBCUs were doing well in the 1970s but with the onset of incorporation into predominantly white institutions, federal funding discrimination mismanagement of funds led to their downfall overtime (Johnson 2017).
North Carolina A&T which is the largest HBCU in America, had a large number of incoming students at 2,300 in 2017. Kentucky State witnessed a whopping 162% in first year students’ enrollment in 2017, while Spelman College had 3000 increase of first year students from 5000 in 2015 to 8000 in 2017 with a total of 47 student transfers over the same period (Johnson 2017). Most HBCUs have been part of the progress in numbers including those that were operating in losses previously. For example Virginia State University had a 50% increase over the past two years with 1,139 in 2017, and Elizabeth City State had a net growth in freshmen numbers in seven years. In the same year, South Carolina State had a 32% increase, Shaw University had a 22% increase, Tuskegee had a 32% increase and Dillard had a 22% increase (Johnson 2017).
Cleary, there has been a tremendous increase in HBCUs enrollment numbers , but why? What changed? Why is there a growing interest in attending HBCUs when they were performing so poorly for such a long time? What has changed? According to (Johnson 2017), from an interview with Tiffany Nelson, director of admissions at Spelman College in Atlanta reports that black students want to attend a college that they feel appreciated and valued. This cuts across the board even for black students whose socioeconomic status would allow them to go to other more expensive universities. Currently, black students and parents are more aware of HBCUs and are making deliberate decisions to attend them because they play a role in uplifting African-American students who don’t come from the best of schools. HBCUs invest in African-American communities in ways that predominantly white institutions may not do.
Many students have come to prefer HBCUs because of the cost factor. They cost about $6000 lower than PWIs and tend to be more understanding to students who are facing financial difficulties. Besides, HBCUs help students and parents develop viable scholarship plans from an early time. They are actively reaching out to parents as early as 9th grade to help them with financial planning for college education (Johnson 2017). Another reason is the current mood in the country in terms of culture, with heightened racial hostility, this is an impetus to black students to consider HBCUs as they will have a better quality of life among students and faculty.
There’s an increase in black awareness and HBCUs offer the best environment because of the cultural environment for activism. Students want to explore ideas like ‘Black Lives Matter’ freely in an environment that would challenge them and not one that would harass them for speaking out. A number of different school officials that have witnessed growth attributed this to the efforts they have made in making their schools attractive to potential students. For example, Kentucky State University attributes its growing numbers to provision of quality and affordable education (Carter 2017).
Virginia State University attributes its growth to provision of transformative experience to students and they have utilized social media in particular to spread the news. This has made the school attractive to many potential students. Alcorn State University provides a lot of opportunities and tools to students which comes with value and quality. Consequently, many students have been attracted to HBCUs because of the effort that they have put in to attract them (Carter 2017).
The growth witnessed in HBCUs is bringing a sense of renewed hope to black students as they can get quality and affordable education in institutions that are more inclined to their culture and in an environment that feels more understanding compared to the rest of the institutions. The numbers have significantly improved over the last few years and there’s continued increase every other year even in the HBCUs that were operating in losses a few years back. The institutions are working hard to make HBCUs attractive and the effort is paying off as more and more students are being enrolled while others transfer to HBCUs.
References
“Enrollment Surges at a Number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. September 28, 2018. https://www.jbhe.com/2018/09/enrollment-surges-at-a-number-of-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/
Johnson, Jason. “The Black Renaissance Is Real: HBCUs See Record Growth in 2017.” The Root. October 25, 2017. https://www.theroot.com/the-black-renaissance-is-real-hbcus-see-record-growth-1819841936
JL Carter Sr. “Kentucky Mississippi North Carolina Ohio Students Virginia
Freshman Enrollment Surges at Several HBCUs”. HBCU Digest. September 8, 2017. https://hbcudigest.com/freshman-enrollment-surges-at-several-hbcus/