Thought this was really well-written. My sense is that there is an increasing shift among Black Students towards HBCUs at even the fancy prep schools. Seems a positive, for the reasons the author outlines. Let me know if the gift link doesn’t work.
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Great article. Fwiw, HBCUs were well-represented in DS’ graduating class even before Trump’s first term for many of the reasons cited by the author. Several of his very smart classmates saw Howard, for example, as a far superior choice to predominantly white institutions, particularly in more rural settings. (And yes, these included pretty much every school on DS’ list, including the one he attended.) It’s good to see them getting their due.
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This was a fantastic article - thanks for sharing!
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Fun Fact: North Carolina has the most 4-year HBCU’s at 11 (although St Augustine’s is floundering and teetering on the edge of non-existence, and Bennett is not doing great). Five of NC’s schools are part of the UNC system (North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T, Fayetteville State, Elizabeth City State, Winston-Salem State) and NC also has Historically Native American 4 year college, UNC-Pembroke.
Alabama has 14 HBCUs but that includes 8 4-year schools, and 6 community colleges.
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Two years ago my kid ran at Adidas Nationals which are held at A&T. We were amazed at the campus and facilities, which I’m embarrassed to say says more about my expectations than anything else.
Given the numbers in the article regarding percentage of Black doctors and engineers coming from HBCUs, I asked Chat about lawyers. 35%.
With those outcomes, I can totally understand a Black girl from Andover passing up Harvard for Spelman.
My kid did tell me of a girl who wanted to go to Howard but got waitlisted. She’s going to Columbia instead. Another family we know from Roxbury Latin have a son who also was waitlisted at Howard, got into Tufts, Trinity, WashU and is going to McGill. Smells like yield protection, but may also be evidence of the level of relationships the tony preps have at these schools.
But the times seem to be a-changing.
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A bunch of black lawyers I know went to HBCUs (mostly Morehouse, Spelman and Howard though not exclusively) and then to top law schools.
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Howard does say in its common data set that level of applicant’s interest is considered: https://ira.howard.edu/sites/ira.howard.edu/files/2025-06/Howard%20University%20-%20CDS%20PDF%20Format.pdf
This Times article did make me think about the “Prestige” thread, as well as the post @AustenNut put up about Dillard:
Colleges with Admit Rates of 20-59%: Schools You’ve Liked and Why (NO REPLIES) - #69 by AustenNut .
Gladwell does a great job of outlining why these schools punch well above their weight in outcomes and yet don’t do as well in rankings at places like USNWR. That said, with these outcomes, one would think they would be more well-known. Or maybe they are in the right circles. Its good to know that these kids who are bright but don’t hit the Ivy lottery have a reasonably priced alternative to say, their State Research Uni.
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They are! And also, from what I have seen, their alums are very helpful to students seeking mentorship, job placement, etc. But it’s not surprising that in the largely segregated world we live in, folks outside these circles aren’t clued in.
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I think people of any race who live in the regions (largely the South) where HBCUs are common know how good the various schools are. It’s just outside of the region people who aren’t black don’t know.
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