HBCUs Punching Above Their Weight
UNCF-Member Institution Bethune-Cookman University
The research report HBCUs Punching Above Their Weight makes a strong case for a powerful proposition: Given their small average size and a history of being under-resourced, the enrollment, degree and economic impacts of HBCUs on African Americans in their respective states are significantly greater than one would expect.
Punching Above Their Weight shows that, in their most important function—enrolling and graduating college students—HBCUs perform far better than their sizes and resources would lead one to expect.
Taken state by state, Punching Above Their Weight demonstrates HBCUs’ “multiplier effect” is impressive. Some examples include:
- Florida HBCUs represent just 4 percent of the state’s four-year colleges and universities but enroll 9 percent of all black undergraduates in that state, and award 18 percent of all bachelor’s degrees to black college graduates.
- Louisiana HBCUs represent 19 percent of all colleges and universities in the state, but 38 percent of all black students and graduates.
- Virginia HBCUs represent just 11 percent of the state’s colleges and universities, but 29 percent of the state’s black college students and 32 percent of its black college graduates.
- Delaware’s sole HBCU represents 20 percent of the four-year institutions in the state but it enrolls 40 percent of the black undergraduates and awards 47 percent of bachelor’s degrees to black students in the state.
Click to see the performance of states with HBCUs
HBCUs Punching Above Their Weight (2019)
Click to read the full report.
Infographic: HBCUs Punching Above Their Weight (2019)
A one-page infographic highlighting the results of the research.
Click to read the transcript from the press briefing held June 25, 2019.