What are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)?
HBCUs are institutions founded primarily for the education of African-Americans, although their charters were not exclusionary. Most HBCUs are 50 to 100 years old; the oldest HBCU dates back to 1837. Of the 105 HBCUs, 17 HBCUs have land-grant status. About 214,000 or 16 percent of all African-American higher education students in the nation are enrolled at HBCUs, which comprise 3 percent of all colleges and universities nation-wide. The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) is a professional association that represents the nation’s HBCUs.
