| History | HBCUs were first established after the Civil War to provide Black Americans with full access to a college education. Universities qualify as HBCUs if they served primarily Black Americans before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when almost all higher education institutions were segregated. |
| Locations | There are over 100 HBCUs; most are located in the South, but there are also some schools in the Northeast and Midwest and a school in California as well as in St. Croix. |
| Demographics | Twenty-four percent of current HBCU students are non-Black. Since their founding, HBCUs have been open to all students regardless of race, and many schools are looking to diversify their student body and increase enrollment of non-Black students. |
| Historically Prominent Alumni | W.E.B DuBois (Fisk), Langston Hughes (Lincoln), Thurgood Marshall (Howard), Martin Luther King Jr. (Morehouse), and Toni Morrison (Howard) are among the most prominent historical figures to have graduated from HBCUs. |
| Endowment Inequities | HBCUs hold a median endowment of $12M versus $23M for comparable non-HBCUs. HBCUs rely more on public funding, are more tuition-dependent, and receive a smaller percentage of private donations than non-HBCUs. |
| Financial Fragility | Several HBCUs were on the brink of closure before the 2020-2021 school year because of the pandemic, but last summer’s BLM protests helped renew interest and secure large-scale donations needed to keep them afloat. |
| HBCU Network | Overall, HBCU students report more frequent and favorable relationships with their professors than Black students at predominantly white institutions. A Gallup poll found that Black college students are more likely to say that their professors care about them as people, they feel supported, and they have a mentor at HBCUs. |
| HBCU Alumni that are High-profile Political Figures | The recent successes of HBCU alumni, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Raphael Warnock, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Stacey Abrams, has helped challenge the common critique that HBCUs don’t prepare students for the multi-ethnic “real word”. |
| Election Promises | Most 2020 presidential candidates, including President Joe Biden, promised a substantial increase in HBCU funding as a part of their education platforms. Biden has pledged over $70B for various HBCU initiatives. |
