My response was spurred by your mention of your daughter since she was planning to be an accounting major, but was more just general info about accounting and what things people might want to look for in accounting programs. You’re right, though that programs, firms and business change and it’s important to research to have the most recent info. I’m glad your daughter is doing well and has good prospects. 
Thanks, all, for the input. I appreciate it. Lots of good food for thought!
@jazzymomof7
you and your son have to run a cost/benefit analysis. What is total instate cost? what environment does he prefer?
If the “HBCU” experience is worth more to him than a potential loss of scholarship, then an HBCU is his best option.
I know someone who graduated from Howard Law and was recruited by top law firms. I don’t think he would have had the same opportunities at a PWI. I think any company that desires a diverse workforce will recruit at HBCUs.
On the other side, a student can have AA immersion experience at a PWI by selecting AA friends, frats, clubs. etc.
Note that HBCU and PWI are not mutually exclusive and do not cover all schools.
Schools that are neither HBCU nor PWI:
many in HI, CA, NM, TX
Schools that are both HBCU and PWI:
Bluefield State, West Virginia State
@VANDEMORY1342 Ds hasn’t really expressed a desire for the HBCU experience. I think the main advantage for him would be a potential full ride scholarship for his stats. Being in a nurturing environment academically would be good for him, as well. And I’d love for him to have an amazing college experience. Dh and I met at college and made lifelong friends that we still see regularly.
But I am concerned about the scholarship requirements, and the job prospects need to be there. I’m going to spend some time researching on that end. Also, all of the other schools he is considering are within easy driving distance, and Howard isn’t.
I think we will add Howard to his list and see how it compares financially to any merit he receives at in state schools and schools in neighboring states. If there’s a huge advantage financially, we’ll visit and see what he thinks. It’s at the bottom of our list, though, primarily because of location.
We have family near Tuskegee, but I read some negative things about the school on its FB page so it is off the list.
@nw2this Yes, dh and I went to a PWI, and we had a great experience. We had a diverse group of friends, but we also joined AA greek organizations.
I’ve also noticed when researching schools that many of them have diversity/multicultural departments to support students.
I think all parents/students should visit prospect school’s career center both online and on campus. You want to know their placement record, what companies actually recruit on campus and what kind of career services they provide to their students. If I were to go to any school’s career portal and do not see any career placement stats, I would be concerned.
Top 10% of any school will always be able to get great jobs and it’s great if your kid is one of 10%. I would want to see 90+ of students have some plan after graduation, may it be a full time job or graduate study, but not 35%+ graduates still undecided.
As a first generation Asian in this country, a great education has provided a lot of mobility for me and my siblings. When our next generation were looking at colleges, ability to land a good paying job continued to be our top priority. I love the idea of “learning for the sake of learning,” but able to get a job after graduation has to be right up there.
OP, DD is at an HBCU-Fisk University. She has friends at nearly a dozen others. Her goal from the beginning was to be at a school where social justice was as important as academics and where she would finally not be a minority. She is thriving there-as a sophomore already has several schools and organizations interested in her working with them when she graduates (she is a sped major). Friends have graduated to work in major international corporations, gone on to law school, med school and careers. She has friends who are thriving at Howard, Morehouse, Claflin, Xavier, Hampton and others. ALL of them are very happy with the atmosphere at their schools.
I’ve had people (even here on CC) say that HBCU’s are “less than” but I do not see that at all. While they may accept and give good merit money to students with what on CC would be “average” grades and test scores, there is challenge in the classes. We are paying less than we would at our state flagship, even if DD lived at home. All of her top 5 choices would have been similar or even less costwise.
HBCU’s also have a strong support system for students who need extra help to keep up. Most that we toured offered individual support tailored to the needs of the student. It’s not all perfect-kids seem to universally dislike the food and financial aid/business office dealings can be maddening. But DD feels that she is exactly where she should be. Good luck to your DS.
@oldfort Thanks! That helps me know what to look for. My dh is from a small town, was first gen, and was the only one of his brothers to graduate from college so he absolutely looks at college as a path to upward mobility.
@sseamom The man who encouraged us to consider HBCUs was married to a Fisk graduate. I am glad to hear about your dd’s positive experience!
What is it about the business office dealings that is frustrating? I’ve heard that comment a few times about several different HBCUs.
The main complaint seems to be things getting done in a timely way. Kids waiting on FA disbursement/bill pay acknowledgement, kids being financially cleared quickly. We pay on a monthly payment plan and at the beginning of the year there was a mixup when a scholarship DD won wasn’t applied before DH made a payment, so things had to be reconfigured, and that took longer than it could have. The kids tweet about this sort of thing all the time.
“What is it about the business office dealings that is frustrating?”
Poorly trained or incompetent staff members who are barriers to the function the student needs. Rules being applied in inconsistent or arbitrary ways. The web site says one thing, but the staff member says something else. Imagine everything you hate about getting your driver’s license replaced.
I also live in the state of Texas and my son ask about HBCU’s when he was looking for a school. i would have supported him going to a handful of HBCU’s but they would have had been out of state schools. There are no instate schools that we would have considered. Like most things there are pros and cons for going to a HBCU. I had a ex-girlfriend that went to Prairie View for her undergrad in math. The only downside is she went to a all black high school also so she was in her 20’s before she experienced any other race. She struggled for awhile before she adjusted. She did not know anyone from a different race until she entered the workforce. It was very important to her to that her kids went to diverse high schools because she did not want them to have the same experience. One of her kids go to Howard while the other goes to Baylor. Both seem to be happy with their choices.
I guess things have changed in the past 20 years. I have a friend who went to Tuskegee. She’s employed as a mechanical engineer after raising a family, getting a divorce and entering the work force again (she was an engineer after college). She has great memories of her time there.
@Hanna are HBCUs unique in administrative quality for some reason? Or were you just clarifying what that meant?
I’ve heard anecdotes about helpful and unhelpful, organized and disorganized admin offices at colleges of all kinds. Seems like an odd thing to say HBCUs would all have poorly organized ones.
“are HBCUs unique in administrative quality for some reason? Or were you just clarifying what that meant?”
I was clarifying what that meant, but as noted by many posters who are HBCU grads or parents, it does seem to be a pattern. I don’t think there has ever been an empirical study on this point; it’s a mass of anecdotes.
To be fair, I’ve heard of worse messes caused at the business offices of PWI’s than D has run into at her HBCU. I wouldn’t say they’re all bastions of incompetence. The main issue is timeliness, but usually a phone call from dad solves the problem. DD’s roommate had problems being financially cleared last fall, but it was a complicated problem that involved her grades, and not the business office’s fault.
NCA&t is awesome.
Hanna - which HBCU did u attend?
NC A&T mom here!! Son attended and graduated from A&T with a mechanical engineering degree. He is a URM but not AA. He fit in great and had a nice college experience. As far as academics he had other choices but sitting in on an upper engineering course convinced him. It is an ABET accredited program so it is held to the standards of all other ABET programs. After graduation he began his career as an aviation design engineer (2 years) and has moved on to be a director of engineering at a high-tech special effects firm, blows up very cool stuff!
He does credit his actual classes and knowledge gained at A&T that has landed him his success. The cafeteria had the best food, we ate there often when visiting. School has a rich history, great school spirit and very accessible profs for help, research projects and LORs for later. Their school of nano-engineering and nano science has a new campus and fantastic research opportunities. Many of their grads in STEM move to NC State’s Vet school, UNC Chapel Hill’s med school and their nursing and science students also graduate to great jobs in the RTP area.
It is part of the UNC state system so for in-state resident’s tuition is very low and for OOS it is very reasonable. It has the feel of a small private tech school within the very large UNC system.
His brother had acceptance’s to MIT, Cal-tech and ended up at an ivy, and the food was still far better at A&T! We as a family had a good look at many other choices but this one worked out very well.
Hope this helps.
Kat