The American system of higher education is a diverse mosaic of institutions offering broad access and a great deal of choice. In the two decades from 1984 to 2004, the minority student population in the United States grew by 146 percent to about 5 million, or one-third of all college students. To accommodate this population growth, an increasing number of colleges and universities have been founded as, or transformed into, minority-serving institutions (MSIs). As the student population increases in diversity, the author contends that the role of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) has become pivotal to American higher education, ensuring access and success for disadvantaged African-American students. (Contains 18 notes.)