Of course the word “conspiracy” makes it sound like a top-secret, well-orchestrated attempt to eliminate these colleges from the higher education landscape. I don’t believe that is particularly the case, but there are certainly some factors that seem to harm HBCUs more than PWIs.
Policies that hurt HBCUs
For those who believe there is a conspiracy afoot, there are all sorts of reasons they believe so. Here are a couple of the most common:
Changes in the PLUS Loan program. In October 2011, the U.S. Department of Education adjusted its lending policies for these popular—and, in many cases, necessary—loans to align more closely with what a traditional bank would require in the way of income and creditworthiness. All colleges took a hit with these changes, but HBCUs lost an estimated $50 million in the first full year these changes took place. For many HBCUs, the college population is made up of first-generation students with parents who often have not set aside the funding for a college education but want to contribute financially. When PLUS Loan eligibility changed, it felt like a blow directed at HBCUs.
Online schools targeting minorities. Perhaps the largest factor crippling HBCUs today is the prevalence of online college programs. From schools like the University of Phoenix, which is completely online, to individual programs offered by traditional campus schools, students who need college-work-family flexibility are finding it outside HBCU campuses. All demographics have flocked to online schooling, but minorities have been especially targeted. HBCUs traditionally have been viewed as places for underdogs, but online schooling programs have overtaken that space with the combination of convenience and a wide array of programs.
Policies to merge HBCUs. Governors like Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Mississippi’s former governor Haley Barbour have announced plans to merge HBCUs with each other or other predominantly White institutions in moves that are intended to slash state operating costs. Treating any two HBCUs as institutions that are alike enough to merge without incident is flawed though. Planning to merge an HBCU with a predominantly white school is even more off-base. These individual schools have their own histories, their own student cultures. Perhaps it makes financial sense to merge HBCUs with others similar in size or scope, but it undermines the collective institutions, undercutting their autonomy and what they can offer to potential students.
