More women are enrolling in college than men across all racial and ethnic groups, but the decline for men of color “is especially alarming,” PBS reported in June. Now, a new report from the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM) points out that Black male enrollment at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has fallen even faster (-25%) since 2010 than it has across all institutions (-22%).
Overall HBCU enrollment has fallen by 11% since 2010, which is consistent with national enrollment trends. However, the share of Black male undergraduates has shrunk disproportionately: in 2022, Black men made up 26% of HBCU students, down from 38% in 1976. In comparison, representation of Black women at HBCUs has held steady, at 49% in 2022, up slightly from 48% in the mid-70s.
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Missing out on the benefits of an HBCU education
It’s important to celebrate strong college enrollment among Black women at HBCUs, but at the same time, Black men need access to the opportunities HBCUs have to offer, experts tell Inside Higher Ed. HBCUs have had a unique role in supporting Black students’ economic mobility, career success, confidence, and sense of belonging, the report says. After controlling for academic preparedness, institutional financial health, and other institutional factors, the Black student graduate rate is 10 percentage points higher at HBCUs than non-HBCUs, says the report, citing a 2020 article titled “The Paradox of HBCU Graduation Rates.”
HBCUs have also been an important pipeline to graduate school, as they graduate more Black applicants to medical schools than non-HBCUs, and have educated 40% of Black engineers and 50% of Black lawyers. HBCU graduates also report having more support, a better college experience, and to feel they are thriving both in purpose and financial well-being than Black graduates from non-HBCUs. Fewer Black men with bachelor’s degrees—across both HBCUs and other institutions—means fewer Black men with access to pathways that lead to upward mobility and higher lifetime earnings.
“That means there’s a whole cadre of employment opportunities [many] Black men won’t be qualified for,” says Derrick Brooms, executive director of the Black Men’s Research Institute at Morehouse College.
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Closing the HBCU gender gap
The share of Black male students at HBCUs varies by institution, ranging from just 4% at St. Philip’s College, a historically Black community college and Hispanic-Serving Institution in San Antonio, to 33% at Alabama A&M University. There are just 20 (out of 101) HBCUs where Black men make up at least 40% of the student population, excluding single-sex colleges such as Morehouse College and Spelman College. These 20 schools, with the exception of South Carolina State University, are small private colleges that typically enroll fewer than 1,000 students.
Several interventions are needed to boost Black male college enrollment, the report says. Starting in the K-12 years, Black boys need more resources and academic support that prepares them for postsecondary education. Increasing representation of Black male teachers also encourages Black male students to see academic success as attainable. At the college level, HBCUs have been chronically underfunded, and Black men often cite college costs as a barrier to enrollment. Boosting HBCU funding would enable the institutions to have the resources they need to recruit and support students, while expanding financial aid can increase Black male students’ enrollment, retention, and completion rates.