During the Reconstruction era, most historically black colleges were founded byProtestant religious organizations. This changed in 1890 with theU.S. Congress' passage of the SecondMorrill Act, which requiredsegregated Southern states to provide African Americans with public higher-education schools in order to receive the Act's benefits. During the 19th century, either after expanding their inclusion ofblack people and African Americans into their institutions or gaining the status ofminority-serving institution, becamepredominantly black institutions (PBIs).[7]
For a century afterthe abolition ofAmerican slavery in 1865, almost all colleges and universities in the Southern United States prohibited all African Americans from attending as required byJim Crow laws in the South, while institutions in other parts of the country regularly employed quotas to limit admissions of black people.[8][9][10][11] HBCUs were established to provide more opportunities to African Americans and are largely responsible for establishing and expanding theAfrican-American middle class.[12][13] In the 1950s and 1960s, legally enforced racial segregation in education was generally outlawed throughout the South (and anywhere else in the United States), and other nondiscrimination policies were adopted.
There are101 HBCUs in the United States (of 121 institutions that existed during the 1930s), representing three percent of the nation's colleges,[14] including public and private institutions.[15] Twenty-seven offer doctoral programs, 52 offer master's programs, 83 offer bachelor's degree programs, and 38 offer associate degrees.[16][17][18] HBCUs currently produce nearly 20% of all African American college graduates and 25% of African AmericanSTEM graduates.[19] Among the graduates of HBCUs are civil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr., United States Supreme Court JusticeThurgood Marshall, and former United States Vice PresidentKamala Harris.
Atlanta University – nowClark Atlanta University – was founded on September 19, 1865, as the first HBCU in the Southern United States. Atlanta University was the first graduate institution to award degrees to African Americans in the nation and the first to award bachelor's degrees to African Americans in the South; Clark College (1869) was the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve African-American students. The two consolidated in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University.[26]Shaw University, founded December 1, 1865, was the second HBCU to be established in the South. The year 1865 also saw the foundation ofStorer College (1865–1955) inHarper's Ferry, West Virginia.[2] Storer's former campus and buildings have since been incorporated intoHarpers Ferry National Historical Park.[27]
Some of these universities eventually became public universities with assistance from the government.[28]
In 1862,[29] the federal government'sMorrill Act provided forland grant colleges in each state. Educational institutions established under the Morrill Act in theNorth andWest were open to blacks. But 17 states, almost all in the South, required their post-Civil war systems to be segregated and excluded black students from their land grant colleges. In the 1870s, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina each assigned one African American college land-grant status: Alcorn University, Hampton Institute, and Claflin University, respectively.[30] In response, Congress passed thesecond Morrill Act of 1890, also known as theAgricultural 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.[31] These land grant schools continue to receive annual federal funding for their research,extension, and outreach activities.[18]
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.[34][35]
In the 1930s, many Jewish intellectuals fleeing Europe after the rise ofHitler andanti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany following Hitler's elevation to power emigrated to the United States and found work teaching in historically black colleges.[36] In particular, 1933 was a challenging year for many Jewish academics who tried to escape increasingly oppressive Nazi policies,[37] particularly after legislation was passed stripping them of their positions at universities.[37] Jews looking outside of Germany could not find work in other European countries because of calamities like theSpanish Civil War and general antisemitism in Europe.[38][37] In the US, they hoped to continue their academic careers, but barring a scant few, found little acceptance in elite institutions inDepression-era America, which also had their own undercurrent ofantisemitism.[36][39]
As a result of these phenomena, more than two-thirds of the faculty hired at many HBCUs from 1933 to 1945 had come to the United States to escape from Nazi Germany.[40] HBCUs believed the Jewish professors were valuable faculty that would help strengthen their institutions' credibility.[41] HBCUs had a firm belief in diversity and giving opportunity no matter the race, religion, or country of origin.[42] HBCUs were open to Jews because of their ideas of equal learning spaces. They sought to create an environment where all people felt welcome to study, including women.[42]
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 the passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 mandated 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.[45]
President George H. W. Bush signs a new Executive Order on historically black colleges and universities in theWhite House Rose Garden, April 1989
A reauthorization of theHigher Education Act of 1965 established a program for direct federal grants to HBCUs, to support their academic, financial, and administrative capabilities.[46][47] 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 theSweatt v. Painter (1950) andBrown v. Board of Education (1954) rulings by theU.S. Supreme Court (the court decisions which outlawedracial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965.
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 theU.S. Department of Education.[48] 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.[49]
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 theHBCU 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."[50]
In 2015, the Bipartisan Congressional Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)Caucus was established by U.S. RepresentativesAlma S. Adams andBradley Byrne. The caucus advocates for HBCUs onCapitol Hill.[51] As of May 2022[update], there are over 100 elected politicians who are members of the caucus.[52]
Each year, theU.S. Department of Education designates a week in thefall as "National HBCU Week." This week features conferences and events focused on discussing and celebrating HBCUs while also honoring notable scholars and alumni from these institutions.[53]
As of February 2025,Alabama has the most active HBCUs of any state, with 14.[54]North Carolina is second with 11.[55]
A 2024 study by the American Institute for Boys and Men revealed that Black men make up only 26% of HBCU students, down from 38% in 1976. The decline of Black men enrolled in college is also noticeable at non-HBCUs.[59]
In 2024, theUnited Negro College Fund released a study showing that HBCUs had a $16.5 billion positive impact on the nation's economy.[60]
In 2023, the average HBCU 6-year undergraduate graduation rate was 35% while the national average was 64%.Spelman College had the highest graduation rate among HBCUs at 74%.[61] Also in 2023, 73% of students attending HBCUs werePell Grant eligible while the national average was 34%.[61][62]Talladega College had the highest percent of Pell Grant eligible students among HBCUs at 95%.[63]
Between 2020 and 2021, philanthropistMacKenzie Scott donated a historic $560 million in total to 23 public and private HBCUs, with most of her contributions setting donation records at the institutions she supported.[64]
In 2015, the share of black students attending HBCUs had dropped to 9% of the total number of black students enrolled in degree-granting institutions nationwide. This figure is a decline from the 13% of black students who enrolled in an HBCU in 2000 and 17% who 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.[15][65]
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%).[66][67][68]
The number of total students enrolled at an HBCU rose by 32% between 1976 and 2015, from 223,000 to 293,000. Total enrollment in degree-granting institutions nationwide increased by 81%, from 11 million to 20 million, in the same period.[66]
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.[69]
HBCUS may struggle to complete with predominantly white schools in recruiting high-achieving Black students. In an attempt to correct for racial disparities, many predominantly white institutions actively seek out and court high-achieving students of color. These schools may extend scholarships or other incentives to prospective students beyond what HBCUs can offer.[70]
Following the enactment of Civil Rights laws in the 1960s, many educational institutions in the United States that receive federal funding adoptedaffirmative action to increase their racial diversity. Some historically black colleges and universities now have non-black majorities, includingWest Virginia State University andBluefield State University, whose student bodies have had largewhite majorities since the mid-1960s.[15][71][72]
As many HBCUs have made a concerted effort to maintain enrollment levels and often offer relatively affordable tuition, the percentage of non–African-American enrollment has risen.[73][74][75][76] The following table highlights HBCUs with high non–African American enrollments:
Racial diversity at HBCUs, 2016–2017 school year[77]
HBCU libraries have formed theHBCU Library Alliance. That alliance, together withCornell University, have a joint program to digitize HBCU collections. The project is funded by theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation.[90] 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.[91]
See also the "Notable alumni" sections of each institution's article.
Vice President and HBCU alumnaKamala Harris with students attending HBCUs
HBCUs have a rich legacy of matriculating many leaders in the fields of business, law, science, education, military service, entertainment, art, and sports.
Federal funding for HBCUs has notably increased in recent years. Proper federal support of HBCUs has become more of a key issue in modern U.S. presidential elections.[96]
In 2019,President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill that permanently invested more than $250 million a year to HBCUs.[98]
In 2021,President Joe Biden's first year in office, he invested a historic $5.8 billion to support HBCUs.[99] In 2022, Biden's administration announced an additional $2.7 billion through his American Rescue Plan.[100]
Homecoming is a tradition at almost every American college and university, however homecoming has a more unique meaning at HBCUs. Homecoming plays a significant role in the culture and identity of HBCUs. The level of pageantry and local black community involvement (parade participation, business vendors, etc.) helps make HBCU homecomings more distinctive. Due to higher campus traffic and activity, classes at HBCUs are usually cancelled on Friday and Saturday of homecoming.[101] Millions of alumni, students, celebrity guests, and visitors attend HBCU homecomings every year. In addition to being a highly cherished tradition and festive week, homecomings generate strong revenue for HBCUs and many black owned businesses.[102][103][104]
^20 U.S. Code sec.1061,[1]Archived December 20, 2022, at theWayback Machinehttps://USCode.house.gov For a compact overview of HBCU history, see Walter R. Allen, Joseph O. Jewell, Kimberly A. Griffin, & De'Sha S. Wolf,Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Honoring the Past, Engaging the Present, Touching the Future, 76Journal of Negro Education, pp. 263–280 (2007).
^abAnderson, J.D. (1988).The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860–1935. University of North Carolina Press.
^Marybeth Gasman,Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).
^Marybeth Gasman and Felecia Commodore (eds.),Opportunities and Challenges at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (New York: Palgrave Press, 2014).ISBN978-1-349-50267-7
^Favors, J. (2020).Shelter in a time of storm: How Black colleges fostered generations of leadership and activism. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press.ISBN978-1-4696-4833-0
^Marybeth Gasman,The Changing Face of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Philadelphia: Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, University of Pennsylvania, 2013.[ISBN missing]
^abCasey Boland, Marybeth Gasman et al.,Contemporary Public HBCUs: A Four State Comparison, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2014.[ISBN missing]
^For detail of the university's early history from its origins as the Institute for Colored Youth, see Milton M. James,The Institute for Colored Youth, 21Negro History Bulletin p. 83 (1958)
^Initially chartered as the Ashmun Institute, it changed its name in 1866. It was the first degree-granting HBCU. See Lincoln University,History,"Archived copy". Archived fromthe original on May 31, 2019. RetrievedAugust 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link). See also Andrew E. Murray,The Founding of Lincoln University, 51Journal of Presbyterian History p. 392 (1973).
^Originally proposed as Ohio African University, the founders changed the name to Wilberforce University, to honor the English abolitionistWilliam Wilberforce, before its corporate charter was granted. Frederick Alphonso McGinnis,A History and Interpretation of Wilberforce University p. 33 (1941). See also Charles Killian,Wilberforce University: The Reality of Bishop Payne's Dream, 34Negro History Bulletin p. 83 (1971).
^Marybeth Gasman,Envisioning Black Colleges: A History of the United Negro College Fund (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).ISBN978-0-8018-8604-1
^Robert C. Lieberman, "The Freedmen's Bureau and the politics of institutional structure."Social Science History 18.3 (1994): 405-437.
^Ronald E. Butchart, "Freedmen's education during reconstruction."New Georgia Encyclopedia 13 (2016): 4-13online.
^Miller, Patrick B. (1995). "To "Bring the Race along Rapidly": Sport, Student Culture, and Educational Mission at Historically Black Colleges during the Interwar Years".History of Education Quarterly.35 (2):111–33.doi:10.2307/369629.ISSN0018-2680.JSTOR369629.S2CID147170256.
^Miller, Patrick B; Wiggins, David Kenneth, eds. (2004).Sport and the color line: black athletes and race relations in twentieth-century America. Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-94610-0.OCLC53155353.
^abcHoch, Paul K. (May 11, 1983). "The reception of central European refugee physicists of the 1930s: USSR, UK, US".Annals of Science.40 (3):217–46.doi:10.1080/00033798300200211.ISSN0003-3790.
^Marybeth Gasman, "Scylla and Charybdis: Navigating the Waters of Academic Freedom at Fisk University during Charles S. Johnson's Administration (1946–1956)",American Educational Research Journal 36, no. 4 (1999): 739–58.
^abJewell, Joseph O. (January 1, 2002). "To Set an Example: The Tradition of Diversity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities".Urban Education.37 (1):7–21.doi:10.1177/0042085902371002.S2CID145115998.
^Philo Hutcheson, Marybeth Gasman, and Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, "Race and Equality in the Academy: Rethinking Higher Education Actors and the Struggle for Equality in the Post-World War II Period",Journal of Higher Education 82, no. 2 (2011): 121–53
^Smith, Walter L. (1994),The Magnificent Twelve: Florida's Black Junior Colleges, Winter Park, Florida: FOUR-G Publishers,ISBN1-885066-01-5
^The Act, as amended, defines a "part B institution" as: "...any historically black college or university that was established before 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."U.S. Department of Education (January 15, 2008)."HBCUs: A National Resource".White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Archived fromthe original on May 13, 2008. RetrievedFebruary 8, 2008. 20 U.S.C. § 1061.
^Marybeth Gasman & Thai-Huy Nguyen,Making Black Scientists: A Call to Action. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2019).ISBN978-0-674-91658-6
^Robert Nathenson, Andrés Castro Samayoa, & Marybeth Gasman,Moving Upward & Onward: Income Mobility and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions, 2019.[ISBN missing]
^William Casey Boland, Marybeth Gasman, Andrés Castro Samayoa, and DeShaun Bennett, "The Effect of Enrolling in Minority Serving Institutions on Earnings Compared to Non-Minority Serving Institutions: A College Scorecard Analysis", Research in Higher Education (2019).
^Van Camp, D., Barden, J., Sloan, L. R., & Clarke, R. P. (2009). Choosing an HBCU: An opportunity to pursue racial self-development.The Journal of Negro Education, 78(4), 457-468. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/choosing-hbcu-opportunity-pursue-racial-self/docview/222068417/se-2
^Robert Palmer, Robert Shorette, and Marybeth Gasman (Eds.),Exploring Diversity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Implications for Policy and Practice (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014).ISBN978-1-119-10843-6
^Marybeth Gasman and Felecia Commodore (Eds.),Opportunities and Challenges at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (New York: Palgrave Press, 2014).ISBN978-1-349-50267-7
Favors, Jelani M. (2019).Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.ISBN978-1-4696-4833-0.OCLC1048660765.
Gasman, Marybeth; Tudico, Christopher L., eds. (2008).Historically Black colleges and universities: triumphs, troubles, and taboos (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-0-230-60273-1.
Lovett, Bobby L. (2015).America's historically Black colleges & universities: a narrative history from the nineteenth century into the twenty-first century (First ed.). Mercer University Press.ISBN978-0-88146-534-1.
Mays, Benjamin E. (1960). "The Significance of the Negro Private and Church-Related College".The Journal of Negro Education.29 (3):245–51.doi:10.2307/2293639.ISSN0022-2984.JSTOR2293639.
Minor, James T. (2008). "A Contemporary Perspective on the Role of Public HBCUs: Perspicacity from Mississippi".The Journal of Negro Education.77 (4):323–35.ISSN0022-2984.JSTOR25608702.
Palmer, Robert T.; Hilton, Adriel A.; Fountaine, Tiffany P., eds. (2012).Black graduate education at historically Black colleges and universities trends, experiences, and outcomes. Information Age Pub.ISBN978-1-61735-852-4.
Rascoe, Ayesha, ed. (2024).HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.ISBN978-1-64375-386-7.OCLC1378381766.
Roebuck, Julian B.; Murty, Komanduri Srinivasa (1993).Historically black colleges and universities: their place in American higher education. Praeger.ISBN978-0-275-94267-0.
Wright, Stephanie R. (2008). "Self-Determination, Politics, and Gender on Georgia's Black College Campuses, 1875–1900".The Georgia Historical Quarterly.92 (1):93–119.ISSN0016-8297.JSTOR40585040.
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