Why are Historically Black Colleges and Universities Important?
UNCF supports minority students at many schools that are not historically black. However, UNCF directly supports 39 private historically black colleges and universities. All HBCUs play a critical role in the American higher education system. For most of America’s history, African Americans who received a college education could only get it from an HBCU. Today, HBCUs remain one of the surest ways for an African American, or student of any race, to receive a high quality education. In 1965, in Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress officially defined an HBCU as, among other things, an institution whose principal missions were, and are, the education of black Americans, was accredited, and was established before 1964. The first HBCU, Cheney University in Pennsylvania was founded in 1837. Today, there are 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. HBCUs graduate far more than their share of African American professionals. While the 105 HBCUs represent just 3% of the
