GREENSBORO (June 6, 2023) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection last week of affirmative action in college admissions could also fuel an enrollment boom at the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) – putting an already significant enrollment trend on steroids.
David Thomas, President of prestigious HBCU Morehouse College in Atlanta, told The New York Times that, just as many Black students turned to HBCUs as nurturing environments after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis in 2020, the affirmative-action decision could have a similar effect.
“College-ready Black students and their families will say, ‘We don’t want to go to places where we’re not wanted,’” Thomas told the Times. “And they will look for alternatives.”1
NORTH CAROLINA has the largest number of HBCU students in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The UNC System includes five HBCUs, including the nation’s largest – N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro.
N.C. A&T has grown dramatically in recent years, to what are expected to be 14,000 students this fall. Even before the Supreme Court decision last week, it received an astounding 39,000 applications for roughly 3,300 positions in its freshman class for the coming year. In fact, between 2011 and 2021, applications to A&T grew by 246% – the highest among the nation’s traditional universities.
Chancellor Harold Martin issued a statement last week that N.C. A&T “will continue to be a beacon of opportunity, access and social mobility for all students, as we have been for 132 years.
“Our national prominence as a doctoral research institution and as America’s largest historically Black university draws growing numbers of prospective student applicants across North Carolina, the nation and the world,” Martin said. “These academically talented students will continue to be enthusiastically received at our university.”
Those students have exceptional academic profiles — for out-of-state applicants, an average GPA of 4.1 – and many choices for where they might enroll. A&T’s value proposition for such students, particularly those looking for a university that shares their concern for racial equity, is likely stronger following the court ruling.
FOR HIS PART, even though Thomas expects a surge of applications at HBCUs, he made it clear in a letter to the Morehouse community that he is “deeply disappointed, yet not surprised” by the Court’s ruling.
“This is a disservice to our nation and its commitment to equity and equality,” Thomas said.
“Affirmative action has long been an essential tool in the fight against systemic inequalities experienced by marginalized communities and has expanded access to educational opportunities that contribute to creating a more just society.”
Thomas, who holds three degrees from Yale University, said the court decision is projected to reduce enrollment by Black students at Yale by 40%.
He suggests that for HBCUs, it will be a matter of preparing for larger numbers of students – a sentiment shared by Martin.
“For those wondering, ‘What do we do now?’ in the face of this decision, it is not about creating new programs or organizations but scaling and adequately resourcing those that have a legacy and proven track record of providing solutions to inequality and increasing diversity in every sector of national life,” said Thomas.
Martin said preparation for a growing student body has been front and center for years at A&T, as the university has grown to have the largest enrollment ever for an HBCU.
“We have personally experienced what significant growth looks like, which gives us a strong understanding of what might come next in the new environment. Appropriate continued levels of funding from the UNC System and General Assembly will be especially important to support our expanding university,” Martin said.
The question is whether corporations, foundations and philanthropists will step up to help HBCUs with the effort, said Thomas.2
There is plenty of room to grow: HBCUs receive 178 times less in funding than Ivy League schools from the nation’s largest philanthropic foundations.
“Private giving is essential to meet the many challenges of enrollment growth – from vital scholarship support to development of campus academic facilities and student services offices,” said Martin.
“What we increasingly find is that we have significant shared interests with foundations and philanthropists eager to make a difference. The opportunity now is to help more of them see what major, immediate impact their support can have by investing in A&T.”
1 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/us/affirmative-action-diversity-college-education.html.
2 https://morehouse.edu/letter-from-the-president-on-the-supreme-court-rejection-of-affirmative-action/.
Leave a Reply