The Educational Justification of Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Policy Response to the U.S. Supreme Court

Abstract

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have recently come under attack from the Supreme Court and the U.S. Department of Education, which have told states that they must either find an educational justification for the schools’ continued existence, or close them. Applying multivariate statistical techniques to a nationally representative sample of students attending HBCUs and Traditionally White Institutions (TWIs), this study finds that the schools may have an educational justification in that African American HBCU students are more likely than their counterparts at TWIs to pursue a postgraduate education and become professionals. African American HBCU students are, however, no more likely than their counterparts at TWIs to experience high levels of social interaction with faculty and other students, nor are they more likely to aspire to community activism.