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Historically black colleges and universities

Updated: 11/6/2025, 12:43:26 AM Wikipedia source

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African American students. Most are in the Southern United States and were founded during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) following the American Civil War. Their original purpose was to provide education for African Americans in an era when most colleges and universities in the United States did not allow Black students to enroll. During the Reconstruction era, most historically Black colleges were founded by Protestant religious organizations. This changed in 1890 with the U.S. Congress' passage of the Second Morrill Act, which required segregated Southern states to provide African Americans with public higher education schools in order to receive the Act's benefits. Separately, during the latter 20th century, either after expanding their inclusion of Black people and African Americans into their institutions or gaining the status of minority-serving institution, some institutions came to be called predominantly Black institutions (PBIs). For a century after the abolition of American slavery in 1865, almost all colleges and universities in the Southern United States prohibited all African Americans from attending as required by Jim Crow laws in the South, while institutions in other parts of the country regularly employed quotas to limit admission of Black people. HBCUs were established to provide more opportunities to African Americans and are largely responsible for establishing and expanding the African-American middle class. In the 1950s and 1960s, legally enforced racial segregation in education was generally outlawed throughout the South (and anywhere else in the United States), and other non-discrimination policies were adopted. There are 101 HBCUs in the United States (of 121 institutions that existed during the 1930s), representing three percent (3%) of the nation's colleges, including public and private institutions. 27 offer doctoral programs, 52 offer master's programs, 83 offer bachelor's degree programs, and 38 offer associate degrees. HBCUs currently produce nearly 20% of all African American college graduates and 25% of African American STEM graduates. Among the graduates of HBCUs are civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., United States Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, American film director Spike Lee, former United States vice president Kamala Harris and the late American mathematician Katherine Johnson.

Tables

Racial diversity at HBCUs, 2016–2017 school year[78] · Current status › Racial diversity post-2000
AfricanAmerican
AfricanAmerican
College name
AfricanAmerican
State
Non-AfricanAmerican
Bluefield State University
Bluefield State University
College name
Bluefield State University
State
West Virginia
Percentage
8
Percentage
92
West Virginia State University
West Virginia State University
College name
West Virginia State University
State
West Virginia
Percentage
8
Percentage
92
Kentucky State University
Kentucky State University
College name
Kentucky State University
State
Kentucky
Percentage
46
Percentage
54
University of the District of Columbia
University of the District of Columbia
College name
University of the District of Columbia
State
District of Columbia
Percentage
59
Percentage
41
Delaware State University
Delaware State University
College name
Delaware State University
State
Delaware
Percentage
64
Percentage
36
Fayetteville State University
Fayetteville State University
College name
Fayetteville State University
State
North Carolina
Percentage
60
Percentage
40
Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University
College name
Winston-Salem State University
State
North Carolina
Percentage
71
Percentage
29
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City State University
College name
Elizabeth City State University
State
North Carolina
Percentage
76
Percentage
24
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana
College name
Xavier University of Louisiana
State
Louisiana
Percentage
70
Percentage
30
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina A&T State University
College name
North Carolina A&T State University
State
North Carolina
Percentage
80
Percentage
20
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
College name
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
State
Pennsylvania
Percentage
84
Percentage
16
College name
State
Percentage
AfricanAmerican
Non-AfricanAmerican
Bluefield State University
West Virginia
8
92
West Virginia State University
West Virginia
8
92
Kentucky State University
Kentucky
46
54
University of the District of Columbia
District of Columbia
59
41
Delaware State University
Delaware
64
36
Fayetteville State University
North Carolina
60
40
Winston-Salem State University
North Carolina
71
29
Elizabeth City State University
North Carolina
76
24
Xavier University of Louisiana
Louisiana
70
30
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina
80
20
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Pennsylvania
84
16

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