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Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community. ¹

Overview

There are 103 historically black colleges (HBCU) in the United States today, including public and private, two-year and four-year institutions, medical schools and community colleges.² Some colleges that operated for decades, closed in the 1930s and 1940s due to competition, the Great Depression and financial difficulties. Examples include Western University (Kansas) and Walden University, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines an HBCU as: "...any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation." ³

Most HBCU's were established after the American Civil War. Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), established in 1854, and Wilberforce University, established in 1856, were two prominent institutions of higher education established for blacks prior to the American Civil War.

Other educational institutions currently have large numbers of blacks in their student body, but as they were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after the implementation of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (the court decision which outlawed racial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965, they are not historically black colleges, but have been termed "predominantly black." Some historically black colleges now have non-black majorities, notably West Virginia State University, whose student body has been roughly 90 percent white since the mid-1960s.

See also

• List of historically black colleges of the United States
• List of black college football classics

Further reading

• Cohen, Rodney T.. The Black Colleges of Atlanta (College History Series). http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780738505541&itm=1/. 
• Stephen, Provasnik; Shafer, Linda L. (November 21, 2004 (2004-11-21)). "Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 1976 to 2001". Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 1976 to 2001 (NCES 2004–062), Washington, DC: Government Printing Office: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 

Notes

External links

• Twilight and Reason: Higher Education and the African American Experience
• The History of HBCUs
• National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education - organization representing and supporting historically and predominantly black colleges and universities.
• Black College Wire - news service to promote the journalistic work of students at predominantly black colleges and universities
• The Black Collegian - a career and self development magazine targeted to African-American students
• White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities - details about this federal initiative, including its history and recent achievements
• HBCU Central @ AOL Black Voices
• Black College Bands

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