DrBanneker
Space is the Place
This is a response to this thread: https://www.thecoli.com/threads/black-men-attendance-of-hbcu-declining.1060288/
I wanted to dig into the numbers there but I didn't have time. I finally got some and will talk about it here: short answer is there is a decline in Black men at HBCUs but the way some of the statistics are stated is deceiving.
First off, I will handle the stat at the start of this video:
"Black men account for 26% of students at HBCUs, back in 1976 this number was 38%". This is true....BUT this is included all HBCU students of all races. About 24% of HBCU students are now not Black and a lot of this is from "HBCUs" that are now 80%+ White like West Virginia State and Bluefield State in West Virginia and Gadsden State in Alabama. Back in 1976 only 15% of HBCU students were non-Black. Black men as a proportion of Black students is at 35%, and was at 38% only a few years ago (details below).
Men as a proportion of Black students has fallen from 47% in 1976 to 35% now but up until 2018 it had stayed fixed at 38-40% since the early 1980s. But this is still complicated.
Black HBCU students overall fell about 14% from 2010-2015. Black women and men's populations both dropped 14%, similar to a fall in other colleges nationwide of around 11%. But from 2015-2022, Black men fell an addition 12% in overall numbers (and losing 3% of the Black share) while Black womens' numbers stayed relatively fixed. So women aren't going to HBCUs in increasing numbers, they just stopped their fall in enrollment before Black men. Black women in HBCUs are now at the level they were at in the year 2000, 22k off their peak in the 2000s. Black men from 2015 to 2022 went from enrollment in the late 90s to their enrollment in the mid 80s. Overall the fall in share of Black students is about 3% for Black men.
Stats by sex and race are here: Total fall enrollment and enrollment of Black students in degree-granting historically Black colleges and universities, by sex of student and level and control of institution: Selected years, 1976 through 2022
Stats by school here: Fall enrollment, degrees conferred, and expenditures in degree-granting historically Black colleges and universities, by institution: 2021, 2022, and academic year 2021-22
Now the 3% share drop from 2018 sucks but I can't tell if it is a 'Black men thing' or a 'men thing'. If you see in the tablel below (COE - College Enrollment Rates) all men of all races dropped college enrollment in the same period at a 2% or so clip, except Hispanics that dropped 7%. Women were mostly the same.
HBCUs Black proportion share of men dropped 3% from 2012-2022 and 2% overall for all colleges so about 1/3 of the drop at HBCUs is most likely due to Black men going to non-HBCUs instead and the other 2% is almost the same as men of all races crashing out and not going to college in the same timeframe.
Granted, not trying to say the data is great but there are details we should consider.
Figure 3. College enrollment rates of 18- to 24-year-olds, by sex and race/ethnicity: 2012 and 2022
I wanted to dig into the numbers there but I didn't have time. I finally got some and will talk about it here: short answer is there is a decline in Black men at HBCUs but the way some of the statistics are stated is deceiving.
First off, I will handle the stat at the start of this video:
"Black men account for 26% of students at HBCUs, back in 1976 this number was 38%". This is true....BUT this is included all HBCU students of all races. About 24% of HBCU students are now not Black and a lot of this is from "HBCUs" that are now 80%+ White like West Virginia State and Bluefield State in West Virginia and Gadsden State in Alabama. Back in 1976 only 15% of HBCU students were non-Black. Black men as a proportion of Black students is at 35%, and was at 38% only a few years ago (details below).
Men as a proportion of Black students has fallen from 47% in 1976 to 35% now but up until 2018 it had stayed fixed at 38-40% since the early 1980s. But this is still complicated.
Black HBCU students overall fell about 14% from 2010-2015. Black women and men's populations both dropped 14%, similar to a fall in other colleges nationwide of around 11%. But from 2015-2022, Black men fell an addition 12% in overall numbers (and losing 3% of the Black share) while Black womens' numbers stayed relatively fixed. So women aren't going to HBCUs in increasing numbers, they just stopped their fall in enrollment before Black men. Black women in HBCUs are now at the level they were at in the year 2000, 22k off their peak in the 2000s. Black men from 2015 to 2022 went from enrollment in the late 90s to their enrollment in the mid 80s. Overall the fall in share of Black students is about 3% for Black men.
Stats by sex and race are here: Total fall enrollment and enrollment of Black students in degree-granting historically Black colleges and universities, by sex of student and level and control of institution: Selected years, 1976 through 2022
Stats by school here: Fall enrollment, degrees conferred, and expenditures in degree-granting historically Black colleges and universities, by institution: 2021, 2022, and academic year 2021-22
Now the 3% share drop from 2018 sucks but I can't tell if it is a 'Black men thing' or a 'men thing'. If you see in the tablel below (COE - College Enrollment Rates) all men of all races dropped college enrollment in the same period at a 2% or so clip, except Hispanics that dropped 7%. Women were mostly the same.
HBCUs Black proportion share of men dropped 3% from 2012-2022 and 2% overall for all colleges so about 1/3 of the drop at HBCUs is most likely due to Black men going to non-HBCUs instead and the other 2% is almost the same as men of all races crashing out and not going to college in the same timeframe.
Granted, not trying to say the data is great but there are details we should consider.
Figure 3. College enrollment rates of 18- to 24-year-olds, by sex and race/ethnicity: 2012 and 2022
| Sex and race/ethnicity | 2012 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Male | ||
| Total1 | 38 (0.8) | 34 (1.0) |
| Asian | 59 (3.3) | 58 (4.4) |
| Black | 34 (2.0) | 32 (2.9) |
| Hispanic | 34 (1.6) | 27 (1.9) |
| White | 38 (1.1) | 36 (1.3) |
| Female | ||
| Total1 | 44 (0.9) | 44 (0.9) |
| Asian | 60 (3.6) | 64 (3.5) |
| Black | 39 (2.3) | 39 (2.4) |
| Hispanic | 42 (1.7) | 39 (1.8) |
| White | 46 (1.1) | 46 (1.4) |
