Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)

This article outlines the origins, composition, and development of African American colleges and universities, also known as "historically black colleges and universities" (HBCU), in the United States. Since their inception during the early nineteenth century, HBCUs have been established to provide quality postsecondary instruction to Americans of African descent. These institutions have successfully educated millions of students despite public disdain, legislative ambivalence, limited resources, and accreditation violations. To fully articulate the role of the black college system in America, factors such as enrollment, curriculum, and funding are considered. The future outlook for HBCUs based on efficacy, obstacles, criticism, and recent trends are then summarized in the viewpoints section.

Keywords Academic Accreditation; Black College System; Brown v. Board of Education of 1954; The Civil Rights Act of 1964; The Higher Education Act of 1965; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU); Jim Crow Laws; Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts; National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO); Plessey v. Ferguson; Predominantly Black Institution (PBI); School of Black Plurality; United States v. Fordice; White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Overview

Most historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) were established following the emancipation of the slaves to provide higher educational opportunities to people of African descent in the United States. These early institutions offered curricula designed to help newly freed slaves assimilate and compete during the Reconstruction era by acquiring reading, writing, agricultural, industrial, and practical skills. The majority of HBCUs in the United States were established in the South from 1876 to 1964 during the "separate but equal" policy of the Jim Crow laws—meaning black were to have access to the same public services as whites, but in separate facilities. This doctrine was applied to everything from drinking fountains to institutions of higher education.

An HBCU is defined as any college or university, established prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which nullified all remaining Jim Crow policy), dedicated to the enrichment and advancement of freed descendants of slaves in the United States. As of the early twenty-first century, there are more than one hundred public and private HBCUs in the United States offering two- and four-year degree programs to more than 300,000 students (Gasman, 2007). This unique network of higher education employs more than 60,000 people in twenty-two states and territories, and makes up three percent of all colleges and universities in the United States (Brown, 2004). Although most HBCUs are located in the southeast and border regions, there are also institutions in California, Washington D.C., Michigan, Ohio, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to African American scholar W. E. B. DuBois, if it were not for African American colleges and universities, "the Negro would for all intents and purposes, have been driven back to slavery" (cited in Lemelle, 2002, p. 191). HBCUs are not only responsible for forming the black middle class in America; they have produced "the majority of black judges, doctors, teachers, social workers, military officers, and civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., Rep. John Lewis, and Rev. Jesse Jackson" (LeBlanc, 2001, p. 46). During the civil rights era, graduates of HBCUs "challenged and revolutionized the social institutions of this nation with non-violent social change" (Lockett, 1994, p. 4).

Besides HBCUs, there are three other categories of institutions of higher education in the United States from the African American perspective: predominantly black institutions or PBIs (any college or university more than half of whose student body is black); institutions of black plurality (an institution having a large community of black students); and predominantly white institutions (opened to African American students after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954). Thus, based on enrollment, an HBCU (post-1954) could be considered a predominantly black institution, an institution of black plurality, or a predominantly white institution.

Origins

The first known African American colleges were private institutions in free states established prior to the Civil War. The first HBCU was founded in 1837 in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, by a Philadelphia Quaker named Richard Humphreys. Initially called the Institute for Colored Youth, the school offered vocational and teacher training to free blacks. In 1854, the Ashmun Institute in Pennsylvania (later renamed Lincoln University) became the first HBCU to offer free blacks higher education programs in liberal arts and science, and Wilberforce University in Ohio distinguished itself as the first private HBCU in the nation, as well as the first to admit black women. Other pioneers in black postsecondary education include Bowie State University in Maryland, Lincoln University in Missouri, and Howard University in Washington, D.C.

The growth and legitimacy of the black college system was bolstered through a series of legislative mandates in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, which gave states 30,000 acres of public land for each congressional representative in order to create and support a system of higher education in each state. Shortly after the inception of Morrill, HBCUs were founded throughout the northern and midwestern states. However, many historically black colleges and universities were not established until a second Morrill Act was passed in 1890 that allowed blacks to attend land-grant institutions in southern states. Prior to the Morrill legislation, most HBCUs were established and funded by northern philanthropists, industrialists, free blacks, and religious missionaries such as the American Missionary Association.

After 1890, a new system of state-sponsored HBCUs was developed throughout the southern states using the land-grant funding provided under the original Morrill Act. The nascent HBCUs in the South were viewed as a threat to the traditional white-dominated system and, at best, were "unenthusiastically tolerated" by the establishment. Freed slaves were allowed to have access to higher education as long as it was limited, poor, proscriptive, and did not infringe on skilled labor historically reserved for whites (LeMelle, 2002).

HBCUs after Jim Crow

Despite the criticism by blacks and whites and their negative historical circumstances, HBCUs were officially recognized as a formal system of postsecondary education by Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program, part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society program, also provided funding and institutional support to the black college system.

In 1969, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) was formed by HBCU presidents to help support and advance the black institutions of higher learning in America. According to the NAFEO national website, the mission of the organization is:

"to champion the interests of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly black institutions (PBIs) with the executive, legislative, regulatory, and judicial branches of federal and state government and with corporations, foundations, associations and nongovernmental organizations; to provide services to NAFEO members; to build the capacity of HBCUs, their executives, administrators, faculty, staff and students; and to serve as an international voice and advocate for the preservation and enhancement of historically and predominantly black colleges and universities and for blacks in higher education" (NAFEO, 2007).

In recent decades the HBCU system has received federal support and assistance through the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, established by President Jimmy Carter in 1981 (and updated by his successors) and designed to strengthen and advance black colleges in America.

In 1992, United States v. Fordice (litigated for over two decades) forced public colleges and universities in Mississippi to completely abolish any remnants of the separate-but-equal system established during the Jim Crow era. Many HBCU advocates have expressed concern that the Fordice case (and similar decisions) could ultimately undermine the authority, legitimacy, and role of state-sponsored black colleges in the United States. However, the HBCU system continues to operate and flourish despite the integration of our school systems and over three decades of sometimes hostile litigation.

Applications

Enrollment

During the period of institutional segregation created by Plessey v. Ferguson, HBCUs educated the vast majority of black students in the United States. However, limited funding, insufficient recruitment efforts, and competition from historically white colleges and universities have caused a sharp decline in African American admission at HBCUs. According to Minor (2007), only 14 percent of African Americans now attend black colleges. But despite a decrease in black students and limited resources, many HBCUs have experienced steady or growing enrollment. Moreover, black colleges have significantly increased African American admission in advanced degree and professional course offerings. In 2006, HBCUs educated 40 percent of all black students pursuing post-baccalaureate programs (Hubbard, 2006).

One issue of growing concern for black colleges has been the escalation of enrollment among white students. From 1980 to 1990, the population of white students at HBCUs increased by 10,000, and in 1995 the white population at HBCUs in the United States peaked at nearly 36,000 (Gasman et al., 2007). Many HBCUs are even openly recruiting non-black students in order to generate increased enrollment and revenue. In fact, several historically black colleges no longer have an African American majority on campus, and HBCUs such as Bluefield State College and West Virginia State University now have a predominately white student population . Caucasian and other non-black students are attracted to the affordable tuition, convenient locations, and quality degree programs offered by the black college system. Critics of this trend argue that the white influx at black institutions contradicts and threatens the original role and objectives of an HBCU.

Curriculum

The original pedagogical mission for HBCUs was based on the principle that education "must prepare the youth for good lives as American citizens and it must also fit them to tackle their peculiar racial problems with intelligence and courage" (Clement, 1936, p. 478). Since the origin of HBCUs, educators, politicians, and administrators have articulated and implemented two main approaches for curriculum development: industrial and classical. However, a more recent trend in curricula is a shift away from disciplines such as home economics, agriculture, education, and liberal arts and toward fields such as allied health, technology, business, environmental science, and international relations.

Accreditation

Since the late 1990s, several black colleges have been sanctioned due to violations of standards during assessment reviews for accreditation. These schools include Barber-Scotia College, Bennett College, Edward Waters College, Grambling State University, Knoxville College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Lewis College of Business, Mary Holmes College, Morris Brown College, and Selma University. The majority of these violations were due to financial debt and mismanagement, poor quality of faculty, inadequate degree programs, campus infrastructure, and declining student enrollment. Since 1989, almost half of the colleges that lost accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools were historically black institutions (Gasman, Baez, et al., 2007). Moreover, a large number of college administrators at HBCUs have been censured for violating institutional standards and procedures. In response to the myriad of assessment infractions and administrative mismanagement, the Southern Education Fund established a program in 2004 to help "nonconforming" schools retain a positive accreditation status through special grants and assistance.

Funding

Inadequate budgets, limited resources, low tuition, and societal discrimination and indifference have plagued the finances of HBCUs since their inception. In order to remain competitive, many black colleges must rely on financial assistance provided by state funding, private organizations (like the United Negro College Fund and the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund), and federal grants and programs such as Title III of the Higher Education Act, the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the No Child Left Behind Act. Additional sources of income include alumni assistance, private donations, corporate sponsorship, fundraisers, student tuition, athletic programs, and government agencies (such as the National Institute for Health and the National Science Foundation). Although many external sources of revenue exist, inadequate funding continues to restrict the development and maintenance at the vast majority of HBCUs.

Viewpoints

Efficacy

According to Dr. Michael Lomax of the United Negro College Fund, historically black colleges and universities "have an established record of enrolling and graduating young blacks—a better rate than the average black graduation rate of many majority institutions" (Lomax, 2002, para. 6). Moreover, several HBCU academic degree programs are among the best in the nation. In 2000, six HBCUs were ranked in the top ten for sending African American students to medical school, and six of the ten top producers of black engineers were HBCUs (LeBlanc, 2001).

Many black students prefer the HBCU because it allows them to connect and appreciate their African American heritage and identity in a setting that is sensitive to their unique social and cultural needs. Other students are attracted to the affordable tuition, convenient locations, and long-term scholarship programs. However, limited program offerings, financial and administrative mismanagement, and accreditation failures have prompted many to question the viability of the HBCU system.

Recent Trends

According to 2004 data from the National Achievement Scholarship Program, many of the brightest black students are beginning to pass up black colleges to pursue degrees in public and private historically white colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. Enrollment of Achievement Scholars at Howard University dropped from 71 in 2003 to 29 in 2004, and at Spelman the Achievement Scholar enrollment went from 11 in 2003 to 1 in 2004 (Burdman, 2005). In 2012, only 8 Achievement Scholars enrolled at Howard, although Spelman ticked up slightly, to 6 (Allegiance and Support, p. 41). One of the primary causes for the recent "brain drain" is the dearth of advanced degree programs offered at HBCUs. For example, if a student wanted to get a PhD in black studies in the United States, he or she would be forced to attend a non-HBCU like Harvard, University of Massachusetts, or Yale (Valentine, 2002). Other factors in the drop-off in "high-end" enrollment at black colleges include negative press coverage, lack of funding for scholarships, accreditation problems, affirmative action programs, and heavy recruitment of black students by historically white colleges and universities.

Another significant trend has been the move to culturally diversify the HBCU. Several black colleges are now expanding their mission to educate the socially disadvantaged by increasing enrollment of Hispanics in the United States. Efforts are being made in the South and Midwest to attract students of Mexican and Central American heritage, while HBCUs in the Northeast are recruiting Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, and other Afro-Latino populations (Roach, 2005).

Opposition

Throughout the history of the black college system, there have been numerous black and white critics who view HBCUs as academically inferior and symbols of the segregation and racism of the Jim Crow era (LeMelle, 2002). HBCU opponents accuse the schools of being designed to reinforce the stratified system of the white-dominated power structure by limiting the role and advancement of African Americans. Today, many still question the efficacy and need for HBCUs in America, arguing that these institutions served the purpose of the segregation era and should be eliminated or reorganized as technical schools or community colleges. Some lament that black colleges have the potential to create ethnic insulation among students, leaving them at a disadvantage in the multicultural twenty-first century.

Future Outlook

In the twenty-first century, black colleges will continue to face systemic obstacles similar to those shared by most colleges and universities, such as insufficient faculty salary, a lack of scholarship funds and decreased endowment funding, the need for higher academic standards, accreditation compliance, enrollment, and retention. Other future concerns include a decrease in the number of black students graduating with science and medical degrees and a scarcity of doctoral programs at black institutions (LeBlanc, 2001). In order to stay competitive in the twenty-first century and preserve their original institutional objectives, HBCUs must develop pedagogical methods that focus on the special needs of African American students, such as the social issues of confronting racism and economic planning (LeMelle, 2002).

Terms & Concepts

Academic Accreditation: An evaluation of an institution of higher learning by a licensed third-party agency to determine whether applicable standards of education are being met.

Brown v. Board of Education: U.S. Supreme Court Decision of 1954 declaring that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

Jim Crow Laws: Statutes established by southern states from 1877 to 1964 that legalized segregation based on race in various aspects of society.

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO): An organization formed in 1969 by HBSU presidents to support and advance black institutions of higher learning in America.

The Morrill Acts: Land-grant legislation giving states 30,000 acres of public land for each congressional representative in order to create and support a system of higher education in each state. Created by Vermont Congressman Justin Smith Morrill in 1862 and updated in 1890.

Schools of Black Plurality: An institution of higher education with a large community of African American students.

United States v. Fordice: U.S. Supreme Court Case of 1992 forcing public colleges and universities in Mississippi to completely abolish any remnants of the separate-but-equal system established under the Jim Crow era.

White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An executive order by President Carter in 1981 and updated by his successors, designed to strengthen and advance black colleges in America.

Bibliography

Allegiance and Support: National Merit Scholarship Corporation 2011–2012 Annual Report. (2012). Retrieved December 6, 2013 from http://www.nationalmerit.org/annual%5Freport.pdf

Brown, C. M. (2004). Gathering at the river: What black colleges need to do now. Black Issues in Higher Education, 21, 82. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=14417124&site=ehost-live

Brown, M. C. II. (2013). The declining significance of historically black colleges and universities: Relevance, reputation, and reality in Obamamerica. Journal of Negro Education, 82, 3–19. Retrieved December 9, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=88143412

Burdman, P. (2005). Battling for the best and brightest. Black Issues in Higher Education, 22 22–25. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18488885&site=ehost-live

Clement, R. (1936). Redirection and reorganization of the College for Negroes. Journal of Negro Education, 5, 478.

Esters, L. L., & Strayhorn, T. L. (2013). Demystifying the contributions of public land-grant historically black colleges and universities: Voices of HBCU presidents. Negro Educational Review, 64(1–4), 119–134. Retrieved December 9, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=91870117

Evans, A. L., Evans, V., & Evans, A. M. (2002). Historically black colleges and universities. Education, 123, 3–18. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7717091&site=ehost-live

Gasman, M., Baez, B., Drezner, N., Sedgwick, K., Tudico, C., & Schmid, J. (2007). Historically black colleges and universities: Recent trends. Academe, 93, 69–78. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=23854345&site=ehost-live

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Joseph, J. (2013). The impact of historically black colleges and universities on doctoral students. New Directions for Higher Education, , 67–76. Retrieved December 9, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=91870117

LeBlanc, C. (2001). State of the HBCUs. New Crisis, 108, 46–50. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=8698197&site=ehost-live

LeMelle, T. (2002). The HBCU: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Education, 123, 190–197. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7717422&site=ehost-live

Lockett, G. (1994). Empowerment in HBCU's and PBCU's: Developing microcosms of the beloved community through the redefinition of social institutions and learning the application of values. Paper presented at the Conference of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. Washington, DC: Office of Education Research and mprovement. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED371703). Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/26/b9/79.pdf

Lomax, M. (2007). The HBCU mission: A fresh new look for Congress. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 24, 51. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24348533&site=ehost-live

Minor, J. (2007). Success of HBCUs means looking forward, not backwards. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 24, 55. Retrieved May 15, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24898021&site=ehost-live

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. (2007). About: NAFEO's mission. Retrieved May 15, 2007 from http://www.nafeo.org/about.php

Roach, R. (2005). HBCU's reach out to Latino students. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 16, 28–29. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18547088&site=ehost-live

Valentine, V. (2002). What about the HBCUs. New Crisis, 109, 2–4. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=8701717&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Hill, L. (1994). Black American colleges and universities: Profiles of two-year, four-year and professional schools. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group.

Mikyong, M. K. (2006). The impact of historically black colleges and universities on the academic success of African-American students. Research in Higher Education, 47, 399–427.

Owens, E. W., Shelton, A. J., Bloom, C. M., & Kenyatta Cavil, J. (2012). The significance of HBCUs to the production of STEM graduates: Answering the call. Educational Foundations, 26(3/4), 33–47. Retrieved December 9, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=85706817

Roach, R. (2006). An HBCU transformed. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 9, 14–18.

Uwakonye, M., & Osho, G. S. (2012). Economic recession and historically black colleges and universities: An analysis of factors impacting historically black colleges and universities. International Journal of Education, 4, 328–344. Retrieved December 9, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=87394136