HBCU stands for Historically Black College or University. It’s not just an informal title; there’s a legal definition from the Higher Education Act of 1965:

any historically black college or university that was established prior to 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.

Some of the more nationally-known HBCUs include Howard University in Washington, D.C., Morehouse College and Spelman College, both in Atlanta, and Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. The Department of Education lists 102 currently operating HBCUs. Usually recognized as the first HBCU, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1837. There are public and private HBCUs, and they are primarily concentrated in the South, where many were formed during Reconstruction.

While HBCUs have educating Black Americans as their “principal mission,” they are not discriminatory and admit other students, both non-Black Americans and international students. Looking at the schools I’ve already mentioned, the percentage of Black or African American students ranges from 73% at Howard to 97% at Spelman. A number of HBCUs are actively recruiting Hispanic and Latino students. You will find some White students at some HBCUs, but not many.

What are the advantages of attending an HBCU? Smaller size is one. The largest of them tops out at around 10,000 undergraduate students, and keeping a low student-faculty ratio is a priority for many of them. While every university likes to think of itself as a community, many HBCUS, with their smaller size and focus on educating a distinct group, truly are a community.

There’s also in immense amount of tradition and pride in the HBCU community. HBCUs come with a sense of belonging. That pride was quite clear in Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration parade with the Howard marching band, and HBCU tradition was a central theme of Beyonce’s amazing Homecoming performance. But it’s not just backs and performances. 25% of Black Americans with STEM degrees earn them from HBCUs.

Another huge part of the HBCU experience to be a safe and welcoming space for African American students. It’s a place to be among other Black students, with Black professors and administrators, in a Black community. With the increased cultural and racial conflicts of the past four years, enrollment at most HBCUs has increased too. Spelman just broke their record for number of applications, and Forbes magazine explained “Four Reasons Why 2020 Was the Year of the HBCU.”

Are there disadvantages to attending an HBCU? One descriptor you often see in front of “HBCUs” is “underfunded.” According to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, “More than 75% of students at HBCUs rely on Pell Grants and nearly 13% rely on PLUS Loans to meet their college expenses. HBCUs have 1/8 of the average size of endowments than historically white colleges and universities.” So HBCUS typically don’t have the balance of wealthy and non-wealthy students to balance their annual tuition income, and the schools themselves don’t have the deep savings to keep things running as smoothly. Publicly-funded HBCUs, while receiving tax dollars to help fund the school, are sometimes battling for their continued existence. Sometimes this is an unintended consequence of good intentions, like larger flagship state universities working harder to attract Black students and then necessarily drawing from the pool that might attend an HBCU. Sometimes it’s an effect of more direct intention, with people making the argument that HBCUs are “no longer necessary.”

While any student considering any college should make sure the school is fiscally sound and not likely to go away before you have a chance to graduate, that is especially true of HBCUs.

Where can you learn more about HBCUs?

This page from the Aspen Institute has a lot of resources.

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is dedicated to funding HBCUs and organizing HBCU alumni.

The US Department of Education has a ton of resources on HBCUs.

Teen Vogue breaks down nine misconceptions about HBCUs.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.
Check out these related Glossary entries: Ivy, Liberal Arts College, Public University.
Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.