Historically Black Colleges and Universities, primarily known as HBCUs, have seen a rise in popularity over the last several years in the United States. The Class of 2024 showed a peak, but the Class of 2025 surprised admissions when notable schools such as Howard University received over 18,000 applications within only the first wave of early decision, and 36,000 overall, Hampton University receiving 36,000 applications, and Spelman expecting application numbers to surpass years prior with nearly 14,000. With Former Vice President Kamala Harris openly appreciating Howard University as an alumni from Class of 1986, Harris inspired the youth population to apply to Howard.
At West Orange High School, this serge in HBCU enrollment is very evident. The Class of 2025 has shown popularity in applications to Howard, Hampton, North Carolina A&T, FAMU, Spelman, Morehouse, Tuskegee, Coppin State and many more. Congratulations to all who have committed!
HBCUs are important to the black community because they were ways that blacks could receive proper education without being criticized or rejected by educational spaces that were created to degrade the black spirit. And HBCUs are not just limited to black people, as many minorities may find comfort in these schools as well due to their population straying away from the majority, that being white. But attending an HBCU does not imply that students do not like sharing educational spaces with white students, it simply provides black people, and sometimes other minorities, the opportunity to flourish in an environment they feel most connected to.
This may seem outdated as the United States is no longer segregated legally, however, many areas of America can be found lacking diversity and efforts to provide fair education, hence why HBCUs are still running today. Plus, these institutions preserve the rich culture of Black Americans, with long, detailed history being stored in these schools’ museums or taught in the classrooms.
