According to essence.com, the plight of HBCUs is quite serious. From finance issues to declining graduation rates, some of the latest stats regarding how well, or maybe bad, HBCUs are doing is quite alarming. How much trouble are HBCUs really in?
By way of of a study published in Newsweek, “fundraising is a major problem for HBCUs.”
The study gives a comparison of the two of the nation’s “richest” schools in terms of how they are sectioned. Howard University receives nearly $590 million from the government, which on the surface, seems like a lot of money.
But compared to the funding that Brown University receives, Howard is dwarfed. Brown is on the receiving end of over $3 billion in government funding each year.
Brown has a bustling alumni base that donates generously. Not saying that Howard doesn’t as they certainly have proud alumni. Yet the differences are hard to miss.
Moving further along in the study, a new book suggests that HBCUs are seriously on the way out. There are currently 104 HBCUs, but as the book predicts, that number will dwindle down to just 35 soon.
Then there is the declining graduation rate and enrollment numbers at HBCUs and the peril is nearly tangible.
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has a plan to underpin HBCUs by funding them with over $25 billion. That still may not be enough.
Some of our nation’s best minds have come out of HBCUs. Saving them should be at the top of our list of educational priorities and we should fight to find new ways to make these schools relevant.
