Institutions of higher education have the felt the sting of budget cuts due to cramped state budgets. Non more so than Historically Black Colleges and Universities as many black school have turned to creative means to remain viable.
Some HBCUs are looking to their student bodies as a means to find new revenue. Recruiting students that aren’t traditional may eventually save some of the nation’s HBCUs.
Non-black students are starting to litter many HBCU campuses due to educational opportunities but also because so many schools are strapped for cash.
From students who are white, to Asian, to Latino, HBCUs have to recruit non-traditional students in an effort to keep its doors open.
While this isn’t necessarily a new discovery as HBCUs have always welcomed students who aren’t black, the number of non-black students on HBCU campuses is starting to rise.
As recent as 2014, the University of Pennsylvania reported that the non-black population of students at HBCUs is at least 20 percent.
It’s also worth noting that many colleges that have a traditional student population of white students have stepped up efforts to diversify its campuses with black students, which has decreased the enrollment at many HBCUs.
Of course without a steady flow of students, schools are unable to keep its doors open, and with state legislatures continuing to cut money from education, HBCUs have to find new avenues of revenue.
But this news hasn’t come without controversy or concern. Some alumni at HBCUs that are turning its focus to welcome more non-traditional students on campus are concerned that their school’s changing demographic will upset the history and culture that many alumni and black students enjoy about HBCUs.
It is unlikely that HBCU campuses will be so overrun with non-black students that some will have to drop the HBCU moniker, but without a diversifying campus population and new ways to make money, HBCUs will be unable to remain open if the trend of tightening state budgets continue.
