This study is a normative inquiry into a rationale and design for the development of black higher education. It is also an analysis of the current status and potential for development of the black American community, inasmuch as educational renewal is tied up with all aspects of social development. Black higher education is reassessed in order "to offset the large negative assessments of the past and, thereby, to provide a comprehensive and realistic base for a comprehensive and realistic approach to solving the problems of black higher education." The topics treated are: "The traditional Negro college reconsidered", discussing negativism toward and the failure and the contribution of the traditional Negro college; "An ideology for black educational development"; "A design for black educational renewal"; "The problem of support for black colleges"; and, "Toward the future," encompassing implications for educational planning for the black community, for black/white relations, and for pluralistic democracy. The study's recommendations have relevance for the "mainstream" American colleges, particularly as they attempt to respond to the needs of their black students. Two appendixes list foundation and government assistance programs for institutions of higher education. (RJ)