Would You Send Your Child to an HBCU?

HBCU Digest’s Jarrett Carter asked alumnae and students of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) where they stood on the relevance of HBCUs in today’s society. Are they equipping minorities to compete in a globalized marketplace? Does attending an HBCU benefit minorities or pose a disadvantage to them after graduation?

Carter’s article for the Huffington Post asked these and more questions of Morgan State University’s and North Carolina Central University’s current and former students. Among the high marks for HBCUs was students being able to see minorities, specifically African-Americans, with a professional status tied to something other than athletics or various levels of celebrity.

Among the low marks for HBCUs were leniency, career advisement and customer service.

…Alcohol and visitation leniency, with many HBCUs employing campus restrictions on visitation and alcohol consumption, even for residential students over the age of 21. While designed to encourage moral behavior among students, it is among the hot topics of high school seniors and freshmen in home-for-the-holidays talk on the positives and negatives of the HBCU experience. When compared to co-ed living facilities and visitation policies at larger, predominantly white institutions (PWI), it is almost always a negative point of emphasis among reasons to avoid attending an HBCU.

“The policies are draconian in nature and insult the intelligence of the students,” says Morgan senior Robert Chittams. “HBCUs must make policies comparable to those at a PWI if they truly want to compete.”

Read the full article here.

What do you think? Would you send your child to an HBCU? If you could do it over again, would you choose an HBCU or a PWI?