In recent years, much has been written about the challenges
confronting American higher education. There is a growing interest in
applying standards of accountability, and many states have reduced
financial support, as colleges and universities find themselves
competing with prisons and health care for the public treasury. On a
variety of fronts, the nation’s colleges and universities are
re-examining themselves and their value to society.
Only scant attention has been paid, however, to the country’s
historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the changes
they are undergoing.
To a degree, America’s HBCUs are dealing with the same generic
issues affecting higher education – increasing costs, legislative
oversight, accreditation pressures, part-time faculty, et cetera. But
due to their unique history and mission, there are other challenges as
well. Many of these may be legitimately viewed as opportunities, as
they portend important new vistas for a sector in the higher education
marketplace that has not always been understood or valued.
Institutions which are able to successfully carve a niche for
themselves as outstanding undergraduate colleges or comprehensive
universities are likely to succeed in recruiting and retaining the best
students, faculty, and administrators. It now appears that for some,
HBCUs may be on the path toward becoming institutions of preferred
choice for students and faculty.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 1994
there were 103 HBCUs – forty public, four-year colleges; ten public,
two-year colleges; forty-nine private, four-year colleges, and four
private, two-year colleges. These institutions constitute a minuscule 3
percent of this country’s 3,688 institutions of higher education.
Nonetheless, they enroll 16 percent of African American students and
produce one-third of all Black college graduates.
It is at the four-year colleges and universities, both public and
private, where the most ambitious and far-reaching changes are
occurring. While HBCUs have by and large retained their historic role
and mission, federal desegregation efforts and demographic changes have
had discernible effects upon many of them. Many Black alumni and
legislators have been concerned about the possibility that certain
HBCUs, especially public ones, might lose their identity due to
desegregation. In point of fact, this fear has been largely unfounded,
with some exceptions, including Bluefield State College (see Black
Issues, Dec. 11, 1997), West Virginia State College, and Lincoln
University in Missouri.
Many HBCUs have embarked on interesting courses of action which have
enabled them to meet the needs of an expanding and diverse market while
retaining their identity, as evidenced by Time Magazine’s selection of
Florida A&M University as the College of the Year. However,
notwithstanding Florida A&M’s accolades and the emergence of other
HBCUs as institutions of choice, it would be folly to assume that these
institutions coexist with White institutions in a risk-free environment.
