NEW YORK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) has bounced back strongly in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are anticipating another record influx of applications this year, reported Bloomberg News on Wednesday.
For example, at Howard University, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' alma mater, applications topped 36,000, a record for the 2024-2025 school year. And North Carolina A&T State University, Morehouse College, Hampton University, Alabama A&M University and Morgan State University have all hit new highs in enrollment, applications or waitlists, according to the report.
"Figures for this year's freshman class are the first since a historic Supreme Court decision effectively barred schools from weighing race in admissions," it noted. "The decision persuaded some Black students to seek out institutions for not only their academics, but also for a place where their cultural identity is affirmed."
HBCUs have become more visible on the national stage in recent years, serving as hubs for community activism during the Black Lives Matter movement of the 2010s and the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in 2020, it added. "For decades, HBCU enrollment mirrored the national trend line -- climbing to a peak around 2010 before beginning to drop." ■