After the rise of BLM, Black students and their families are heading back to HBCUs

By Shauneen Miranda, NPR

A number of historically Black colleges and universities are seeing an increase in Black students applying and enrolling after years of decline.

“The percentage of Black students enrolled at HBCUs fell from 18 percent in 1976 to 8 percent in 2014 and then increased to 9 percent in 2020,” according to the National Center for Education Statistics. HBCUs such as Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, have seen an increase in applications. At that school, the number went up over 60% in 2020 from the previous year, according to Data USA.

There are a number of factors behind the change — including boosts from famous graduates such as Vice President Harris, an alumna of Howard University — but some Black students and their families see a safer learning environment with these institutions.

Sherrille McKethan-Green, whose son Gideon Green is attending Morehouse, counts herself among them.

“I felt that after he graduated from college, he would have time to be a minority, but at Morehouse, he would be a majority,” she told NPR.

Learn about the history of HBCUs and this present shift.

HCBUs have also seen an influx of threats.

Black culture and community are the focus of ABHM’s breaking news blog.