Historically Black colleges and universities

In the United States, Historically Black Colleges And Universities (HBCU) (a type of minority-serving institution or MSI) are colleges or universities that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the African American community. Prior to 1864, African-Americans were almost always excluded from higher education opportunities at the predominantly white colleges and universities—with notable exceptions such as the integrated Hillsdale College in Michigan and Oberlin College in Ohio.

There are more than 100 historically black colleges in the United States, located almost exclusively in the southern and eastern states. Four HBCUs are located in the midwestern states (two each in Missouri and Ohio), while one is in the Virgin Islands.

Federal support and wider recognition

In 1980, Executive Order 12232 was promulgated by President Jimmy Carter, creating a federal program that would strengthen HBCUs and support equal opportunity in education. Expanding on Carter's program, the following year President Ronald Reagan created the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which encourages federal support for HBCUs. Indeed, historically black colleges and universities also enjoyed a higher public profile since the 1980s.

Today

According to the White House Initiative on HBCUs, 14 percent of all African American students in higher education attend a historically black institution. Twenty-four percent of all baccalaureate degrees earned by African Americans in 1999 were awarded by a HBCU. Historically, black colleges and universities also awarded one out of every six masters degrees or first time professional degrees earned by African Americans.

Today, historically black colleges are not necessarily predominantly black. One classic example is found in West Virginia, whose population is nearly 95 percent white—higher than any other state outside of the three northern New England states. By 1964, the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) had become primarily a commuter college with a student body well over 80 percent white, which it remains to this day. Throughout this time, the school's administration has been primarily African-American.

Conversely, many institutions that were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after Brown now count African Americans as a large part of their student body; however, by definition they are not historically black colleges. Chicago State University is a good example of this phenomenon.

Popular culture

The Cosby Show: The top-rated Cosby Show from the 1980s mentioned Spelman College in several of its television episodes, with star and prominent donor Bill Cosby often seen wearing a Spelman College sweatshirt.
A Different World: The Cosby Show's Lisa Bonet was spun off into another popular television series, A Different World (which dealt with the life of students at the fictional historically Black college, Hillman, and ran for six seasons on NBC). According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, when Debbie Allen became the director-producer the show, Allen herself,

a graduate of historically black Howard University, drew from her college experiences in an effort to accurately reflect in the show the social and political life on black campuses. Moreover, Allen instituted a yearly spring trip to Atlanta where series writers visited two of the nation's leading black colleges, Morehouse and Spelman. During these visits, ideas for several of the episodes emerged from meetings with students and faculty" ^*.

Notable schools

Howard University is the most comprehensive historically black higher-education institution in the United States. It has schools/colleges in the traditional arts and sciences and in most other major disciplines, including architecture, business, dentistry, divinity, engineering, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and social work.
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) has been described as the Princeton University of historically black higher-education institutions in the United States.
Morehouse College has been described as the Harvard College of historically black higher-education institutions in the United States.

Women's colleges

Bennett College has been described as the Vassar of the South, of historically black higher-education institutions in the United States.
Spelman College has been described as the Radcliffe College of historically black higher-education institutions in the United States.

Other significant HBCUs

Famous alumni of HBCUs

Famous alumni of historically Black colleges include:

External links

http://www.HBCUnetwork.com The HBCU Network: The most powerful gathering of the Talented Tenth from

Historically Black Colleges & Universities

Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Their Aspirations & Accomplishments
Twilight and Reason: Higher Education and the African American Experience
White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities - details about this federal initiative, including its history and recent achievements.
National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education - organization representing and supporting historically and predominantly black colleges and universities.

African-American history | Historically black universities and colleges in the U.S.

Universities and colleges in the United States | Università storicamente nera

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