Howard University disenrolled 502 incoming first-year students, roughly 20% of the class, just weeks before move-in day due to missed tuition payments. Although dozens were readmitted on July 27, the decision left hundreds of students devastated, with many taking to social media to express their disappointment.
Broader challenges for Black students
This incident underscores systemic issues facing Black college hopefuls. Tuition has soared 40 times its 1963 average, affirmative action has been effectively eliminated, and recent restrictions on federal financial aid disproportionately affect Black students. Young Black Americans already face the highest rates of disconnection—not in education, employment, or training (NEET)—with nearly 30% of rural and 20% of urban Black young adults disconnected, increasing risks of housing insecurity, substance abuse, and depression.
HBCUs as safe havens
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) offer more than degrees; they provide a sense of belonging and cultural affirmation. According to psychologist Riana Elyse Anderson at Columbia University, “Racial discrimination typically leads to worsened mental health outcomes like depression and anxiety for Black college students. Yet seeking out and having an affirming racial identity helps to thwart those negative outcomes. What’s more, HBCUs offer a unique space for that flourishing beyond what a Black student may find in an affinity group or on their own at a PWI.”
HBCUs account for only 3% of higher learning institutions and 10% of Black undergraduates (as of 2021), yet they confer 35% of Black US bachelor’s degrees, 75% of Black PhDs, 40% of Black engineers, 50% of Black attorneys and physicians, and 80% of Black judges. Their graduates have an upward mobility rate more than double the national average.
Mental health benefits
HBCU students report better mental health outcomes: 45% say their mental health is “flourishing” compared to 36% nationally and 38% of Black students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). A sense of institutional belonging, felt by 83% of HBCU attendees, is a key factor. Anderson notes that this community affirmation is “critical for wellbeing, particularly in this contentious political and social environment.”
The disenrolled Howard students face heightened risks of disconnection and depression. As the author Saida Grundy writes, “Black colleges are some of the only spaces where Black students will be covered by communities that are invested in their wellbeing, and that see their mental health and happiness as foundational to the American future.”
