Source: PRESS RELEASE, 11/18/21


Despite offering admission to a significant number of underserved students, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are remarkably successful at supporting social mobility among their students, according to a report released today by UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, the nation’s foremost research organization focusing on the educational status of African Americans from pre-school through college.

The report titled, HBCUs Transforming Generations: Social Mobility Outcomes for HBCU Alumni, will be the topic of discussion during a virtual town hall hosted by UNCF on Twitter at 1 p.m. ET, Thursday, Nov. 18. To participate in the Twitter chat, which is open to the public, visit UNCF’s Twitter page @UNCF.

The Twitter chat will be moderated by Dr. Jamal Watson, award winning journalist, professor of communications at Trinity Washington University and a contributor to Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. It will feature the following panel of leaders and speakers in higher education: Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, president, Benedict College; Jessmine Cornelius, program coordinator, UNCF Institute for Capacity Building and HBCU alumna, Prairie View A&M University; Dr. Charlie Nelms, HBCU advocate and higher education consultant; and Dr. Walter Kimbrough, president, Dillard University.

The UNCF report offers an in-depth review of the “move into middle class+ mobility rate” and its efficiency as a measure of social mobility for Black students attending HBCUs. It provides a breakdown of access, success and social mobility rates of HBCUs, Ivy Plus institutions, the nationwide average and the averages of non-college attendees.

Three major findings of the report:
• The “move into middle class+ mobility rate” accounts for more movement between socioeconomic classes than other popular mobility rates used to measure American students’ upward mobility.
• HBCUs serve more economically disenfranchised students than most U.S. institutions. The percentage of HBCUs that educate low-income students in comparison to the nationwide average is nearly 30% higher. When compared to other institutional types, HBCUs’ average access rate is more than twice that of all institutions nationwide and five times that of “Ivy Plus” institutions. These access rates reflect the fact that more than 70% of HBCU students are Pell Grant-eligible, and 39% are first-generation college students.
• On average and across institution type, when it comes to mobility rates HBCUs outperform all other categories and are double the national rate, being the primary post-secondary driver for moving Black Americans from poverty to the middle class.

“These findings demonstrate that investment in HBCUs builds institutions that are primary drivers of success for historically marginalized people. Contributing to the advancement of an HBCU directly influences the continued improvement of economic outcomes for Black Americans—and by extension, our society-at-large,” said Dr. Nadrea Njoku, interim director, Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, UNCF.

“This report offers an equity-centered approach to understanding higher education outcomes for underserved students. The ultimate goal of a college degree is to fuel factual learning, maturity and growth and economic prosperity. Our research shows HBCUs contribute mightily to our well-being as a nation.”

For more of this story, click here.