A new report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences offers promising insights into the state of humanities programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), even as humanities degree completions decline across the nation. The report titled “Tracking the Health of the Humanities at HBCUs” highlights how HBCUs continue to play a critical role in maintaining humanities education and diversifying the student body in these fields.
While the number of students earning humanities degrees has steadily dropped nationwide, the report presents a more hopeful picture for HBCUs. Humanities degree completions at HBCUs have also declined, but the drop has been more gradual, and numbers have largely stabilized in recent years. Between 2014 and 2022, humanities degree completions at HBCUs decreased by 15%, compared to sharper declines at non-HBCU institutions.
In 2022, HBCUs awarded 8.8% of their bachelor’s degrees in the humanities, a share that matches the percentage at non-HBCU institutions. Historically, HBCUs focused more on vocational subjects and awarded a smaller portion of degrees in the humanities. However, this new data shows that HBCUs are maintaining their commitment to the humanities even as the field faces broader national declines.
Dr. Marybeth Gasman, who holds the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education is a distinguished professor and associate dean for research in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, emphasized the importance of humanities programs for Black students.
“For HBCUs, the sustained engagement in the humanities points to the lasting importance of these disciplines in fostering critical thinking, cultural awareness, and intellectual growth among Black communities,” Gasman said. “I can’t begin to stress how important the humanities are to liberation and freedom.”
One of the most notable contributions of HBCUs to humanities education is their role in increasing diversity among students. In 2022, HBCUs awarded 13.5% of humanities degrees earned by Black students and 3.8% of humanities degrees awarded to students from all minority racial and ethnic groups.
