In a Sept. 9, 2014 briefing, Chancellor Donald Reaves reflected on his seven years at Winston-Salem State University. We share those remarks here in four days of blog posts.

Day Three:  Looming Challenges: Enrollment and Financial Aid

I like to think that we have a done a lot over the last seven years and that it has all been for the benefit of our students.  But like I said at the outset, the work is never done and the next chancellor will face major challenges, just as I have.  Chief among those challenges are two big issues: maintaining a sufficient enrollment size and finding the resources for financial aid.

The enrollment challenge is complicated and will not be easily solved.  The problem is grounded in the historical legacy of schools like WSSU which were founded to offer educational opportunities to African-American students during the time when the South was segregated.  When segregation ended, so did the monopoly that these schools enjoyed over the most academically talented African-American students.  Today, these students have choices and they are taking advantage of the opportunities that are available at the majority institutions.  In 1972, 83% of African-American students attending universities in the UNC system were at HBCUs.  Today, that number is 50%.

The dwindling pool of African-American students is made more challenging by the higher admission standards that General Administration has recently implemented, and the scarcity of financial support at the state and federal levels.  Over the last several years several historically Black campuses have closed, and more will likely follow suit.

The aid problem is equally daunting.  Many of our students are first-generation college students, and many of them come from under-resourced families – families that cannot afford the cost of a college education.  At WSSU more than 85% of our students receive some form of aid, yet the availability of funds continues to decline.  At the federal level, more stringent credit criteria have made it more difficult for parents to borrow to send their children to college; and recently the UNC Board of Governors placed a cap on the percentage of tuition dollars that can be spent for need-based aid.