Black colleges are central to the delivery of higher education. Notwithstanding, there is scant treatment of these key institutions in the research literature. There is a need for a comprehensive and cogent understanding of the primary characteristics of the policies and practices endemic to black colleges. This book provides the scholarly basis requisite to organize, give meaning to, and shape the analyses and applications of policy and practice within the black college. The collected chapters respond to the paucity of research literature addressing these institutions. In each chapter, the authors acknowledge the specific characterisics of black colleges that make them unique. Understanding the fundamental characteristics that shape black colleges is critical to gaining a comprehensive understanding of higher education at large. The policy and praxis challenges exhibited at black colleges serve as exemplars to how all colleges perform their respective functions in society. Black colleges serve as testimonies to the transformative power of adversity, and beacons of possibility in and era of retrenchment and ambiguity. These roles call on black colleges to aid and assist in creating an opportunity for educational change.

Creating New Possibilities for the Future of HBCUs brings together over 20 higher education scholars with more than 150 years of combined professional experience to critically examine the current contributions of and future directions for our nation’s 101 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The book breaks new ground on Black colleges and offers hope and optimism for charting their future despite shrinking investments in higher education, declining enrollments, and eroding public confidence in the value of a college degree. The book was written to tell the truth, to right (or “[re]write”) past wrongs about HBCUs, and to shift our collective gaze from the uncertain, shaky past of a select few to a far more promising future for all based on insights from contemporary empirical research. Each chapter addresses a particular aspect of higher education as it relates to HBCUs, documenting the undeniable legacy of Black colleges, their current challenges and untold successes, blended with findings from recent empirical studies—both quantitative and qualitative—that clearly create new possibilities for the future of HBCUs. This volume was developed to break new ground on often overlooked and understudied terrain in higher education scholarship. Organized into three major sections, the book includes chapters focusing on HBCUs as institutions and a small, but consequential, segment of the higher education enterprise. Section Two consists of 6 chapters addressing the experiences of HBCU students, paying close attention to issues of intersectionality, heterogeneity, and race/ethnicity, to name a few. A third, and final, section turns much-needed attention to HBCU personnel, including campus administrators, college presidents, and faculty. Rich in its coverage of culture, facts, and past history, this new book offers much to those interested in charting new possibilities for the future of HBCUs.

Born out of extreme racism and shepherded through the centuries by enduring hope, the nation's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have educated countless African Americans. These institutions, which boast great diversity, are treasures that illuminate the talent and potential of African Americans. This volume provides an overview of the salient issues facing HBCUs as well as the many contributions that these historic institutions make to our country as a whole. Topics include Historic Origins of HBCUs Desegregation Students Presidental Leadership Faculty and Governance Issues Fundraising Federal and State Policy Curriculum Thoughts about the future With suggestions for additional reading, other references and an appendix of historically black colleges and universities by, this is a comprehensive and much-needed addition to the literature in the field on HBCUs. This is the fifth issue the 35th volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.

This book focuses on the significant role that professional education programs play at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and these programs’ impact on society. Chapter authors discuss the contexts and experiences of students who have attended these programs, including their relationships with faculty, research opportunities, professional growth, personal enrichment, and institutional support. Taking into account social supports, identity development, and doctoral student socialization patterns, this book sheds light on what development and status of such professional education programs mean for future research and practice, while emphasizing issues of race, oppression, and marginalization.

Student retention, engagement, and success are some of the biggest challenges that administrators and university leaders face in higher education settings. As financial support and steep competition pose an issue to student acquisition and participation, especially within Historically Black Colleges and Universities, it becomes pertinent that these academic organizations implement new leadership practices to assist in the overall success of the student, as well as the institution. Administrative Challenges and Organizational Leadership in Historically Black Colleges and Universities examines how administrations in Historically Black Educational Institutions utilize different leadership techniques to overcome challenges of student retention and engagement. Focusing on student development practices, organizational collaboration, funding for institutions, and support provided from faculty and staff within Historically Black Colleges and Universities, this book is an essential reference for university administrators, educators, researchers, and graduate-level students in the fields of education and sociology.