Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have always offered more than degrees. They’ve provided Black students with confidence, community and a stronger sense of identity before entering spaces where they are often underrepresented.
For recent graduate Kalé Akue-ka, attending North Carolina A&T State University was a turning point. Unlike her siblings, who attended predominantly white institutions in Greensboro, Akue-ka said A&T helped build her confidence in non-Black spaces.
“If I’m comfortable enough in a group of Black people, then that comfort can help me shine in a group of diverse people,” Akue-ka told The Root. That confidence became crucial during an internship program of 1,200 participants made up mostly of white students and professionals.
“At first, it was a bit of a culture shock coming from an HBCU,” she said. “But I remembered what I learned at A&T. That helped me find my light and not have too much of an impostor syndrome in those environments.”
A study from the United Negro College Fund found that HBCU students report higher mental well-being and confidence than Black students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Akue-ka said she started building that confidence once she became more involved on campus during her sophomore year through networking events and student activities.
It’s this sense of belonging that many graduates say separates HBCUs from other schools. John James, who earned his degree from Morgan State University, agreed that the lessons he learned went far beyond academics.
“You’re going [to an HBCU] for the education, but you’re actually learning from the Afrocentric part,” he said. “You’re learning not just what you’re supposed to know, but what they also don’t tell you.”
Many HBCUs require African American Studies courses, exposing students to Black history and the broader African diaspora early in their college experience.
With that foundation, Black students know they can take on the world, and they do.
In the U.S, 12.5% of CEOs graduated from an HBCU, according to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Statistics also revealed that HBCUs contribute to 40% of Black engineers, more than half of Black teachers and over 80% of all Black doctors and dentists.
James described HBCUs as spaces where Black students feel understood, which may differ from the experience of those who attend predominantly white institutions.
“You do feel more loved, especially if you’re a Black person there because they understand the struggles you go through,” he said. The Maryland native comes from a long line of Morgan graduates. But other recent graduates, like Caran McIntosh from Howard University, shared a very different background.
As a first-generation college student, McIntosh’s experience was unfamiliar at first, but it didn’t take long for him to find his groove.
“When I touched down, I could feel the differences in the HBCUs and the PWIs,” McIntosh said. “It felt like home.”
Despite the discrepancies, McIntosh said nothing compares to life at his HBCU. “At the end of the day, we party together, we help each other out. We look out for each other. We connect with each other,” he told us.
For many graduates, the greatest lesson was learning to believe in themselves long before the rest of the world did. McIntosh said mentors, classmates and administrators often became part of a lifelong network.
“People say HBCUs don’t prepare you for the real world because the real world isn’t going to be everybody surrounded by people that look like you, but I think that’s exactly why it prepares us,” McIntosh said. “It’s because they give us an opportunity to propel each other up into building a network. No matter where we’re at, we’ve got a brother or a sister somewhere there that can look out for us.”
