Another parent with an HBCU Howard grad who had the pick of great internships each summer and jobs upon graduation. I will note administratively Howard can do better. My child had a full tuition scholarship and we paid room and board out of pocket so we never had to deal with financial aid, etc. The dorms are decent but roommate assignments require some finagling to say the least. We still wouldn’t change anything as she had full rides to a few other schools, and got into NYU Tisch but still chose Howard.
Some HBCUs are really strong, competitive, and with beautiful campuses. They are really the only place for black students to have the best college experience.
And when it comes to blacks discouraging people from attending HBCUs … black people for centuries have been conditioned to hate themselves and taught to think black equals inferiority. Some of us have broken out of that sick mentality, some have not … simple as that.
PBS is showing a documentary on HBCU’s tonight that some of you might find interesting. DD and every one of her friends at their half-dozen HBCU’s are thriving. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/tell-them-we-are-rising/
I’ve been meaning to check it out.
Although I would not discourage any student from applying to many HBCUs, I strongly disagree that HBCUs are really the only place for black students to have the best college experience.
@jazzymomof7 I have had close family friends, colleagues, and their children attend Howard University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College. Among them are gainfully employed engineers, dentists, and teachers who would not change the experiences they had at these schools.
But, unlike Spelman University and Morehouse College, the one complaint central among those who attended Howard University (times of attendance ranging from 1983 – 2016) was the constant disorganization of the Financial Aid Office.
How many years of inefficiency does one need to see before believing this is a pattern at Howard University?
@BLUEPH I also strongly disagree that HBCUs are the only place that black students can have the best college experience because our own students are so diverse. My own HBCU experience was great and I would not trade it for anything. As far as Howard’s financial aid office, or any financial aid office, I think one has to be careful with generalizations only because I have seen that some issues occur due to students/parents not completing documentation or not completing documentation in a timely manner which then causes a problem with the financial aid office. OP also has a child whose grades and test scores make them eligible for merit aid (my own experiences with Howard students and alumni have given me the impression that those students have fewer problems in general). Could Howard’s office of financial aid be better? No doubt. I watched my niece go through some time consuming processes to get her business taken care of, but she also procrastinated and waited to the last moments to take care of business (Did not turning in shot/medical records timely and Howard would not disperse financial aid until it was done). Guess who my niece blamed? My own child considers Howard to be her #1 choice amongst many options and I will make sure I am well read on financial aid procedures and that her documentation is always ready for her. Howard University could prove a life changing experience/education and I would not let an understaffed financial aid office get in the way of that.
@ChangeTheGame @bluephish
An in-depth study by Gallup showed that black students at HBCUs were happier and more fulfilled than black students at non-HBCUs. So it’s no longer a matter of “I disagree”, it’s factual (see below).
http://news.gallup.com/poll/186362/grads-historically-black-colleges-edge.aspx
Furthermore, there are reasons why most black students tend to heavily segregate themselves once they are on predominately white campuses. 74% of blacks at very liberal Harvard stated they felt marginalized on campus due to their race (read below). Need I say more? HBCUs are the only place for black students to receive the supreme college experience.
http://features.thecrimson.com/2015/senior-survey/
I will always have a special love and appreciation for HBCUs and people who graduate from them.
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@NuScholar You cite a study where 0.93% (less than 1%) of students who participated in the study graduated from an HBCU as factual for your claim that:
Therefore, I again, strongly disagree with your claim and use of this study, that used less than 1% of survey participants, to make inferences for ALL black students.
@NuScholar I am not disagreeing with the data that says students tend to be happier at HBCUs and more fulfilled in general. What I am disagreeing with is that they are the “only place for black students to have the best experiences”. I have a family friend who struggled to fit in at Spelman recently (she was good academically but struggled socially) and transferred after 1 year to a very small PWI where she ended up thriving. I believe in my own HBCU experiences but to say that it is the “only place” is an absolute that I can not co-sign on.
I think that both of my children will chose HBCUs but some of my HBCU friends are already struggling with some aspects for there own kids. Morehouse will cost 45K (HOPE will cut some of those costs down to let’s say 35K) for my son to go to school in a couple of years, but if he got into Georgia Tech directly, he could go to school for 17K once HOPE is taken into account . I will personally find a way to help him bridge that gap, but I know some Morehouse alum who will make the other choice for their kids. I believe in that experience that a HBCU brings to the table, but I know others who will choose a different route.
@blueph
there are a plethora of studies confirming black students have more favorable experiences at HBCUs than at predominately white institutions. And personally One of my mentors graduated from a HBCU (undergrad) and a predominately white institution (master’s, ph.d.) and he definitely seems to have enjoyed his HBCU experience more and his best friends are those he met at his HBCU. so just do your research. disagreeing with facts is unwise in my world but feel free to … that’s all I have to say on the matter (won’t respond past this).
- you’re comparing a private institution to a public institution, so of course Morehouse will be more expensive. if you compared Morehouse to Emory or Mercer … Morehouse would easily win on affordability.
- of course not all black students will end up at HBCUs which is not my argument. if someone is given a full scholarship to UNC-Chapel Hill and only a half scholarship to Howard, it makes sense for them to go to UNC-Chapel Hill. but Ideally all black students should at least fairly consider them before making a final decision. especially blacks that live in or near the southeastern United States (HBCU hotbed).
- i highly recommend you allow your children to go on official HBCU tours or encourage them to do intensive research on HBCUs in every state. today, there are many strong and impressive HBCUs out there outside of the Big 3 everyone knows about Howard, Morehouse, and Spelman. many HBCUs are now able to compete with them but you have to do your research to find one which ones
“ if you compared Morehouse to Emory… Morehouse would easily win on affordability.”
Only if you’re full pay. Emory guarantees to meet full need and Morehouse does not. So Emory will be more affordable for many families. It’s an individual question.
Black persistence rates at Harvard and other top PWIs suggest that the students there believe that the pros outweigh the cons, even though the cons are real. All Harvard sophomores have the option to transfer to an HBCU after they have experienced the PWI first-hand, but almost none of them do…97% of them graduate from Harvard, the highest black graduation rate in the country. Should we conclude that they are all making the wrong decision about their own lives? Or are they the ultimate experts on what’s right for them in the long term?
@NuScholar Over the last year, my family has taken official tours at XULA, Southern U, Tuskegee, FAMU, NC&AT, Howard U. Tennessee St., Fisk U, and Alabama A&M. My family also goes down to the AUC every year so my kids have seen HBCU’s and have been to many activities as well. But I have also made sure that they toured schools like Vanderbilt, Emory, Tulane, UGA, and LSU because I am wanting them to make the best decisions for themselves. Even though I completely believe in the HBCU experience, I want them to figure out what they want… I can tell you that my daughter got into Tulane (71K cost of attendance) and NC&AT (30K cost of attendance) and Tulane is cheaper for my daughter after the financial aid came in than NC&AT so the costs and private/public arguments don’t matter as much as the actual COA after scholarships and grants are considered.
I forgot to add that I mentioned Morehouse and Georgia Tech specifically because my son believes he wants to be an engineer. He could chose to do the 3/2 dual degree engineering program between Morehouse and another host school (most likely GT for him) or he could go to Georgia Tech directly (if he got in) and save 50K for those 1st 3 years in college. I think those are the hard decisions that some of my friends who actually did dual degree are thinking they would push there kids to chose GT even though they love the HOUSE…
@NuScholar
Not sure how Emory got into the conversation, however you don’t compare schools on just cost or just private and public denominations, but on “quality+cost”. It’s quite clear that Emory is worth the cost and many are willing to pay it. Not sure the same can be said of Morehouse and Howard. Also comparatively GTech is a steal for instate students even for the majors GTech isn’t necessary good at.
Harvard is no longer PW: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?id=166027#enrolmt
Regardless of whether the school is HB or not, 3+2 programs are generally considered less desirable for prospective engineering majors, due to the extra cost of the extra year, the uncertainty of financial aid at the “2” school, the admission gates that the student needs to pass to transfer to the “2” school, and the possibility that the student will not want to transfer away from his/her friends at the “3” school into a “2” school that is likely the kind of school that many 3+2 students did not want to go to in the first place.
@ucbalumnus
agreed, one would be better attending a school that offers the major they desire from the beginning. Transferring is difficult regardless of the type of transfer it is. Also Engineering is fairly egalitarian so @ChangeTheGame your son can attend UGA or a Davidson/Swarthmore and receive a great engineering education.
Thanks for the clarification @Hanna but most private colleges do not need meet full needs such as Mercer the other school I mentioned.
And high black graduations rates at Ivy Leagues are not an indicator of pros outweighing cons, to me it shows that most black students didn’t want to bother with the headache of transferring and were willing to endure whatever they needed to in order to avoid the condescending label of “Ivy League dropout”.
@ChangeTheGame Interesting. And I really do like the Morehouse-Georgia Tech Dual Degree program (best of both words).
@vandemory1342 I’m not always convinced Emory is worth the cost … it depends on the situation. For example, students who plan to be a high school teacher shouldn’t be paying Emory prices unless they are from wealthy families or on full scholarship. They can easily go to Georgia State or Georgia Tech for 1/4 the price and still get high quality training and resources. I can elaborate more but I’m sure you get my point.
And many people are saying that Georgia Tech has finally surpassed Emory as the premiere institution of higher learning in Georgia so Emory needs to come down on the cost. Just comparing SAT/ACT scores and GPAs of incoming freshmen and you’ll see Georgia Tech attracts stronger students.