Historically Black colleges and universities are a unique institutional cohort in American higher education. These colleges have been celebrated for their achievements and critiqued for their composition at differing points during their collective history. This article addresses contemporary ebbs and flows of their relevance and reputation in the…

After a brief overview of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their historical development, the authors discuss how these colleges and universities were at the vanguard in terms of both access to higher education and diversity, long before these ideas were embraced by the academic mainstream. Despite a long history of…

Investigated the relationship of collegiate desegregation policy to institutional enrollment, examining the nexus between transdemography and tipping-point theory in an effort to conceptualize what happens to the culture of one historically Black college in West Virginia as non-Black students enroll in increasing numbers. (EV)

Delineates the disparate aspects of internal and external assessments and dispels many common fallacies about historically black colleges and universities. (EV)

In this era of crisis in accreditation, leadership and fiscal health on many campuses, Black colleges must share their successes with the public. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the 105 Black colleges enroll approximately 300,000 students and employ approximately 60,000 persons. While they enroll barely 15 percent of African…

Provides historical and contemporary views of black colleges, discussing the development of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the historic roles of HBCUs, differences between HBCUs and predominantly black colleges and universities (PBCUs), segregation and desegregation, the continuing value of HBCUs in the desegregated United…

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) enjoy a unique social contract in the national history, acting as social agencies for society by providing equal educational opportunity and attainment for all students. This social contract brokered between the nation and African Americans is realized through social capital or distribution and…

A discussion of higher education desegregation in the United States looks at the movement by states to disestablish the dual system of higher education for blacks and whites and other desegregation issues, noting also the specific dilemma of public black colleges, which are constrained by federal law and regulation from building on the success of…

The research literature on higher education as a contextual site primarily explores institutional history, campus curriculum, organizational administration, and student behavior. These macro-level topics are given life through institutional analysis set in liberal arts colleges, universities, community colleges, and special population or special…

Discusses the dominant historic, economic, political, and social issues which affect the retention of African American college students through studies on ecological psychology. Considers the behaviors demonstrated by historically Black colleges which translate into effective retention policies or practices for predominantly White institutions.…

The 1992 "United States v. Fordice" case is the judicial precedent for desegregating higher education. Across 19 southern and border states, the desegregation burden has been shifted disproportionately to historically black colleges. This legal and political investigation explores acceptable responses to the desegregation mandate that…

This paper examines the historical background leading to the Supreme Court case of United States vs. Fordice concerning the issue of desegregation in Mississippi's higher education system. The paper focuses on the problems this decision raised regarding eight public colleges that had enrollments and mission statements classifying them as either…