November 12, 2024

The fundamental principle in which this, and the other books in the Why Attend an HBCU series are written, is the adage,

Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day.
Teach someone to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime. 

To teach someone to fish, the teacher must be knowledgeable about the “process” of fishing. To keep from starving, the student must be willing to both learn and apply the process. Teaching a process to someone follows the principle of “backwards mapping,” which means to begin with the end in mind, i.e., not starving. With not starving as the end goal, the process evolves from working backwards to plan how you will catch fish. In regard to attending an HBCU, or any college, if the goal is avoiding student loan debt, then working backwards requires developing a set of strategies for identifying, applying, competing, and receiving enough scholarship money to close your financial aid gap, thereby avoiding student loan debt. 

The fact that 80 percent1 of students enrolling in HBCUs are using student and Parent PLUS loans to pay for college, suggests that the majority of students attending HBCUs are not being taught how to pay for college. There is an important distinction between students who ask “Where do I get scholarships?” versus “How do I get scholarships?” While this may appear to be a matter of semantics, it is far from it. The person who asks, “Where do I get a fish?” is asking a very different question than the person who asks, “Can you teach me how to fish?” 

Collectively, the books in the Why Attend an HBCU series provide comprehensive guidance in matching to the right HBCU and  the right scholarships. While you will be introduced to many scholarships throughout this and the other books in the series, the purpose is not to give you a comprehensive listing of all available HBCU scholarships, but to teach you how to identify, apply, compete for, and be awarded enough scholarship money to avoid student loan debt. Fully benefiting from the information being presented requires a level of intellectual curiosity driven by seeking answers to such important questions as: 

  • Which school or program is the right fit for my educational and career aspirations? 
  • Which schools are the right fit for my financial need? 
  • Which schools are the right fit for my unique situation and circumstances? 
  • Which scholarships are the right match to my body of work? 

These are only some of the many questions to be asked and answered in identifying the schools that are the right fit for earning a 4-year degree to enter into the workforce or in preparation for attending graduate school, nursing school, dental school, medical school, or law school.

While HBCUs share many commonalities, they are no more homogeneous than is the Black community. They represent public and private institutions. Public institutions rely primarily on funding from state legislatures and are governed by boards appointed by the governor of the state in which the school is located. Private institutions tend to be smaller and more personalized. Some schools guarantee on-campus housing for all four years, while other schools only guarantee on-campus housing for first-year students (or students from schools/states with transfer agreements). Some schools have a huge focus on athletics, other schools less so. Some schools have a long history of producing students who go into STEM, while other schools have a long history of producing students who go into education. 

Admission rates at HBCUs also widely vary. While the acceptance rate at Alabama State University is 97 percent, 42 miles away, the acceptance rate at Tuskegee University is only 30 percent.2 Similarly, the acceptance rate at Morgan State University is 85 percent, 678 miles away, the acceptance rate at Spelman College is only 28 percent.3 Collectively, the books in the Why Attend an HBCU series provide guidance in researching HBCUs and identifying the schools, programs, and campus communities that represent the best match to your educational and career aspirations, and provide the best opportunities to meet your financial need. The information spans across 7 areas: 

  1. The historical significance of HBCUs, as well as their current role in combating the assault on truth and facts, particularly as they pertain to African and African American history.
  2. Scholarship opportunities that are supportive of, or unique to, attending an HBCU (institutional, corporate, and private).
  3. The range of opportunities available through an HBCU  into the workplace or in preparation for graduate school, nursing school, dental school, medical school, or law school.
  4. How to research schools, majors, and their relationships with employers in various career fields.
  5. The concept of “body of work” and its role in maximizing a student’s scholarship, internship, research, or graduate school opportunities.
  6. Financial literacy of students and parents in understanding college costs and the burden of assuming student and Parent PLUS loan debt that may take a student’s entire working life to repay and deplete a parent’s wealth accumulated over the course of their entire working life. 
  7. Successfully applying for scholarships is part of a process supported by a high quality self-presentation (i.e., résumé/CV, email signature, cover letter, recommendation letters, well written essays) resulting in the submission of “high quality” applications.

The information provided in each of these 7 areas will prove invaluable for the student who is looking beyond being offered admission to a particular HBCU to identifying scholarships, being a competitive candidate for internships, developing networks with HBCU alumni throughout the public and private sectors, and taking advantage of the many partnerships between the United Negro College Fund,4 Thurgood Marshall College Fund,5 and hundreds of companies offering scholarship, mentorship, and employment opportunities. 

While attending an HBCU can provide a welcoming space and certainly one that enriches the “Black experience,” it can also serve as a launching pad for graduate school, nursing school, dental school, medical school, law school, and employment opportunities uniquely available to HBCU students. After being introduced to the plethora of opportunities available to HBCU students, the forward thinking student will look beyond getting admitted and begin building the type of résumé or curriculum vitae (CV) that will make them a competitive candidate for these opportunities.