Are Historically Black Colleges and Universities In Danger?

Founded on the idea that all Americans deserve an education, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have an important legacy in this country. These schools focused their academic attention on those for whom that idea didn't ring true. Essentially, these institutions created a welcome mat at the door of higher education for African Americans. Since their establishment around the end of the Civil War, these schools have been an avenue of success for so many.

Of the 105 HBCUs in this country, Howard University in Washington D.C. has been celebrated as one of the most prominent. Among Howard's alumni are the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, and this nation's first African American UN Ambassador Andrew Young.

But as the doors of other institutions of higher learning started to creep open, black Americans took full advantage of the Ivy league education that had at one point eluded them. Harvard University claims among its academic elite African Americans including President Barack Obama and his wife First Lady Michelle Obama.

Inclusion is good, but there is always a price. The great minds that had once sought educational molding within HBCUs now look else where, and they have for a while. As a result, historically black educational institutions have been feeling neglected. Even before the recession brought cutbacks to African American schools, their numbers have been on a steady decline. Between 1976 and 2002, the number of bachelor degrees earned by black students at historically black colleges and universities dropped from 35% to little more than 20%. Also, Masters' degrees fell from roughly 23% to around 13% during that same time.

HBCU summits issued a cry for help. The government has done its part. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter started the initiative to support HBCUs. Since then, it's become a White House tradition. In February of this year, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to "strengthen the capacity of historically black colleges and universities to provide the highest quality education, increase opportunities for these institutions to participate in and benefit from Federal programs, and ensure that our Nation has the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020."

Several HBCUs have gotten much-needed funding as a result. But more still needs to happen to make these schools as competitive as they can be. More than government initiatives, HBCUs need to get back in the good graces of the community that first established them and beyond.

That's important, because, the inspirational combination of cultural awareness, community identification and educational achievement is invaluable. There is truly nothing like the black college experience, and it shouldn't be ignored. While HBCU leaders try to reverse the decline and stimulate interest -- not just awareness -- of historically black colleges and universities, students past, present and future hope their efforts will not be in vain.

Photo credit: Steven Depolo