Historically Black colleges and universities

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In the United States, Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) (a type of minority-serving institution or MSI) are colleges or universities that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the African-American community. Before 1964, African-Americans were almost always excluded from higher education opportunities at the predominantly white colleges and universities—with notable exceptions such as the integrated Oberlin College in Ohio.

There are more than 100 historically black colleges in the United States, located almost exclusively in the southern and eastern states. Four HBCUs are located in the midwestern states (two each in Missouri and Ohio), while one is in the Virgin Islands.

Morehouse College and Spelman College have been described as the Harvard College and the Radcliffe College, respectively, of the historically black higher-education institutions in the United States. Lincoln University (Pennsylvania),North Carolina Central University,Howard University, Hampton University, Morgan State University, Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Florida A&M University, Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, Virginia Union University and Clark Atlanta University are other significant HBCUs.

1 Since 1980: HBCUs gain federal support and wider recognition in society
2 Famous alumni of HBCUs
3 See also
4 External links

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Since 1980: HBCUs gain federal support and wider recognition in society

In 1980, Executive Order 12232 was passed by President Jimmy Carter, creating a federal program that would strengthen HBCUs and support equal opportunity in education. Expanding on Carter's program, the following year President Ronald Reagan created the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which encourages federal support for HBCUs.

Historically black colleges and universities also enjoyed a higher public profile from the 1980s on. The top-rated Cosby Show mentioned Spelman College in several of its television episodes, with star and prominent donor Bill Cosby often seen wearing a Spelman College sweatshirt. The Cosby Show's Lisa Bonet was spun off into another popular television series, A Different World, which took place at a fictional historically black college.

According to the White House Initiative on HBCUs, 14 percent of all African American students in higher education attend a historically black institution. Twenty-four percent of all baccalaureate degrees earned by African Americans in 1999 were awarded by a HBCU. Historically, black colleges and universities also awarded one out of every six masters degrees or first time professional degrees earned by African Americans.

Historically black colleges are not necessarily predominantly black today. One classic example can be found in West Virginia, whose population is nearly 95 percent white—higher than any other state outside of the three northern New England states. By 1964, the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) had become primarily a commuter college with a student body well over 80 percent white, which it remains to this day. Throughout this time, the school's administration has been primarily African-American.

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