Rate this HBCU Day 31: Winston-Salem State University

[DrBanneker]

Yesterday we looked at the small community college J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College which received a modest score of 6.4.

See the updated leaderboard here

Today we head to another big school, this time Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. The second largest HBCU in North Carolina (slightly edging out Fayeteville State but still behind North Carolina Central University), it is lesser well-known in part because they are NCAA Div 2 (CIAA) though still have a strong band and sports program. It has an outsized impact on the sports world having produced both Stephen A. Smith and Chris Paul.

Started in 1892 with donations from New England textile manufacturer John Fox Slater, and originally known as Slater Industrial School, WSSU was in the fortunate position of having robust support from many local White and Black business people. One of its presidents, Simon Atkins, founded the Black community of Columbian Heights in Winston-Salem. It steadily grew in the 2nd half of the 20th century adding a nursing school in 1953 (still one of its most prominent majors) and eventually joining the University of North Carolina system in 1972.




Founded: 1892

City, State: Winston-Salem, NC

Type: 4-Year, Public

Nickname: Rams

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 5,226 (4,726 undergraduate), 78% Black

Part-time student percentage: 16%

First Generation Student Percentage: 36%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 51% / 8%

Out of State Percentage: 16% (top states Georgia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio per Google Trends)

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 16:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 81%

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 27% / 51%

Transfer out rate: 26%

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 24% male / 763% female (3.1:1)

Tuition: In-State: $6.2k, Out-of-State: $16.9k

Median Debt After Graduation: $25,000

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $38,584

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Registered nursing: $64k, Medical assistant: $54k, Criminal justice: $36k, Business administration: $35k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Nursing, sports medicine, education, biology, business administration, liberal arts, criminal justice

Endowment: $100M+ including $30M from MacKenzie Scott

Alumni Engagement: 6.6% of alumni give back

Athletic Conference: CIAA (NCAA, Div II)

Mascot: Amon the Ram

Notable Alumni:

Stephen A. Smith, ESPN commentator

Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam leader and political figure

Chris Paul, NBA player widely considered one of the best point guards of all time

Main Campus

Donald J. Reaves Student Activity Center

New Science Building

Bowman-Gray Stadium

Clarence C. Gaines Center

Red Sea of Sound Marching Band

Powerhouse Red and White Cheerleaders

Scarlet Lace Dance Team

Miss WSSU and Miss Red & White

@powmia

@ab.aspectus @Originalman @#1 pick @Ziggiy @SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @MostReal @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Willie Lump Lump @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @Anerdyblackguy

 

[Rollie Forbes]

I hate to give this much credit to a CIAA rival, but Winston-Salem is an outstanding school. Other than having to pay out of state costs, I'd be proud to send my kids to WSSU.

 

[AggiePride336.]

Used to spend so much time on WSSU’s campus and Bowman Gray due to being from Winston, and having a lot of my family graduate from there. It’s a fine institution. One of my younger cousins is a recent grad. Got a degree in sports medicine, and works for the ACC now. A lot of nurses come from there as well.

They used to be in the MEAC, but left around 2008/2009. I remember going to the WSSU/A&T game my freshman year at T. They beat us, they left the MEAC, and we haven’t seen them since, I believe. Used to be a big time rivalry.

Surprised at that 78 black percentage.

 

[DrBanneker]

Surprised at that 78 black percentage.

Maybe we can say it is 88% Black. Only 78% marked Black alone, 12% are White/Asian/Hispanic and 10% are two or more races or "unknown".

 

[DropTopDoc]

Chris Paul is a wake forest alum, but he is a staunch supporter of WSSU

Heard it was a good school, a girl i graduated from chiro school with, is an alum, chick fine as shyt, married now

 

[Apprentice]

Chris Paul is a wake forest alum, but he is a staunch supporter of WSSU

Heard it was a good school, a girl i graduated from chiro school with, is an alum, chick fine as shyt, married now

He finished his bachelor at WSSU

 

[DrBanneker]

Chris Paul is a wake forest alum, but he is a staunch supporter of WSSU

Yeah I usually try to get two pieces of info on alumni but I got lazy and trusted Wikipedia. Thanks.

EDIT: thanks for clearing it up @Apprentice

 

[young3000]

My alma mater. Good nursing school and computer science program.

 

[DrBanneker]

My alma mater. Good nursing school and computer science program.

How was student life on campus and in general? I think @powmia is an alum as well.

 

[get these nets]

.

Yeah I usually try to get two pieces of info on alumni but I got lazy and trusted Wikipedia. Thanks.

EDIT: thanks for clearing it up @Apprentice

You were right. He just graduated from WSSU in December.

 

[young3000]

How was student life on campus and in general? I think @powmia is an alum as well.

Campus life was great. Coming from nearly an all white school, I wanted to be around my people so I chose a HBCU. Made plenty of friends on campus. I was a compsci major and I felt like my professors genuinely cared about my education. I do remember my time school both the football and basketball teams did well in the CIAA.

 

[42 Monks]

Had the choice of going to WSSU or JCSU and I chose WRONG

 

[AggiePride336.]

Had the choice of going to WSSU or JCSU and I chose WRONG

Breh your post in here and the JCSU thread got me going back thinking about my little cousin at Livingstone. I went to her graduation and drove on the campus the first time. I was underwhelmed, then I wasn’t impressed with the graduation service at all

 

[Bryan Danielson]

WSSU will always hold a special place in my heart since I’m from the city.

When I was in HS, to work on my game. I used to go up to WSSU and run games with the college kids. One year I was even on an intramural team and them niccas had no idea I didn’t go to the school

Also, it gave me the opportunity for play against some Wake Forest cats as they would come out to ball sometimes too

 

[Bryan Danielson]

Breh your post in here and the JCSU thread got me going back thinking about my little cousin at Livingstone. I went to her graduation and drove on my campus the first time. I was underwhelmed, then I wasn’t impressed with the graduation service at all

Man Livingstone was some shyt man.

So peep this…. Back in like 98, my childhood friends and some dudes from my city that went there got into a brawl. I remember it being so big… the first time I was aware of it myself was at A&T.

@BigAggieLean. not sure if you remember in the old cafe they had tv’s and would show like random clips and sometimes shyt from other schools.

I literally saw it there and was like “WTF???” With my other Winston brehs.

But moving the story forward the next year when I used to holla at this girl that went to LS. When we came up on their campus and the security saw my license. Them Niccas panicked, called for backup campus security and had us searched and searched our cars.

We had to even call shorty for her to confirm we coming to see her and she had to come to that little security point.

That she was crazy….. happened like 2 times