VITAL AND VALUABLE
BLACK LIVES IN THE DIASPORA:
PAST / PRESENT / FUTURE
BLACK LIVES IN THE DIASPORA: PAST / PRESENT / FUTURE
EDITORIAL BOARD
Howard University
Clarence Lusane, Rubin Patterson, Nikki Taylor, Amy Yeboah Quarkume
Columbia University
Kevin Fellezs, Farah Jasmine Grifn, Frank Guridy, Josef Sorett
Black Lives in the Diaspora: Past / Present / Future is a scholarly book series in the feld of Black studies that focuses on Black lives in a global diasporic context. Published in partnership with Howard University’s College of Arts and Sciences and Columbia University’s African American and African Diaspora Studies Department, it builds on Columbia University Press’s publishing programs in history, sociology, religion, philosophy, and literature as well as African American and African Diaspora studies. Te series showcases scholarship and writing that enriches our understanding of Black experiences in the past, present, and future with the goal of reaching beyond the academy to intervene in urgent national and international conversations about the experiences of people of African descent. By design, the series anchors an exchange across two global educational institutions, both located in historical capitals of Black life and culture.
For more information on the series and upcoming books, visit the Black Lives in the Diaspora series webpage.
VITAL AND VALUABLE
THE RELEVANCE OF HBCUs TO AMERICAN LIFE AND EDUCATION
JAMES V. KOCH, OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
OMARI H. SWINTON, HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Columbia University Press New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2022 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Koch, James V., 1942- author. | Swinton, Omari H., 1980- author.
Title: Vital and valuable : the relevance of HBCUs to American life and education / James V. Koch, Omari H. Swinton.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, 2023. | Series: Black lives in the diaspora : past, present, future | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2022018606 | ISBN 9780231208987 (hardback) | ISBN 9780231208994 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780231557726 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: African American universities and colleges—Evaluation. | African Americans—Education (Higher) | Education, Higher—Aims and objectives. | Higher education and state—United States.
Classifcation: LCC LC2781 .K66 2023 | DDC 378.1/982996073—dc23/eng/20220706
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022018606
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Elliott S. Cairns
Cover image: hxdbzxy/Shutterstock.com
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
1 Removing the Veil 1
2 A Précis of the Case for HBCUs 17
3 Declining HBCU Enrollments—A Mystery or Not? 59
4 Te Sample and the Data 96
5 Enrollment, Retention, and Graduation 115
6 A Deeper Dive Into HBCU Dynamics 155
7 A Roadmap for the Future 172
Appendix A. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the Sample 211
Appendix B. Observations on Panel Least Squares, Random Efects, and Fixed Efects 213
Appendix C. Data tables 217
Notes 233
Index 257
PREFACE
This book came to pass because two individuals who had never met face to face concluded there was much to be said empirically about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that had been overlooked or neglected. True, the literature on HBCUs often is rich and extensive, but frequently the suppositions in that literature have not been based on rigorous empirical analysis.
We intend this book to fll some of this evidentiary gap by providing well-grounded empirical bases for statements about HBCUs. We focus on several issues that have not received substantial attention. For example, what determines HBCU campus enrollments? How are their competitive positions with respect to PWIs (predominantly white institutions) afected by factors such as the net prices they charge, the household incomes of their students, the percentage of Black individuals in their home states, and the racial composition of their student bodies?
Because the funding of public HBCUs always has been an issue, we devote considerable time to assessing the extent to which this has changed over time.
Despite eforts to the contrary, the presence of Black men on HBCU campuses continues to decline and fell to only 36.2 percent
viii Preface of headcount undergraduate enrollments in fall 2020. At the same time, it also is true that Black men are more likely than Black women to choose to attend a PWI. Tis caught our attention, and we trace this phenomenon and ofer a preliminary analysis.
Our own observations told us we should give attention to the role of intercollegiate athletics on most HBCU campuses. We provide the frst substantive estimates of the impact of football teams and intercollegiate athletics spending on HBCU admissions applications and on enrollment, retention, and graduation statistics. And, as is our habit, we provide context for this information by performing the same analysis for PWIs.
Early on, we perceived that one cannot address the needs of Black students or HBCUs without speaking to the efect that the diminishing size of infation-adjusted Pell Grants has had on HBCUs and their students, both of whom typically exhibit signifcant fnancial need. Tis circumstance has been exacerbated by the dysfunctional federal student loan program, and we suggest reforms.
Some of the stresses faced by HBCUs today refect their governing boards—including the manner in which the members are selected, general absence of relevant training for their positions, failure of too many board members to view themselves as fduciaries, and incentives they place in front of their presidents. We suggest improvements.
By no means do we contend that this book deals with every important topic that pertains to HBCUs. We do, however, believe we have made substantive progress in terms of providing additional evidence, some of which is at odds with mainstream beliefs.
We emerged from our work with the conclusion that HBCUs represent an invaluable national resource, one too often ignored in non-Black communities. HBCUs have been “out of sight,
Preface ix
out of mind” for signifcant numbers of Americans. We hope to change this situation by supplying a grounded rationale for their support and thereby stimulating other researchers to pay more attention to HBCUs.
We perceive the time is ripe for change. Our hope is that this book will inform the transformational process by providing a solid evidentiary basis to support well-scripted improvements.
“James V. Koch and Omari H. Swinton make a convincing case that HBCUs are a critical part of the higher education landscape and ofer detailed policy suggestions to strengthen their sometimes-fragile fnancial position. Tis clear-eyed and meticulously researched look at HBCUs is a must-read for anyone who cares about education, equity, and our nation’s future. I wish that some of the legislators who vote on HBCU appropriations would read Vital and Valuable so that it might inform their votes.”
Julianne Malveaux, president emerita, Bennett College for Women, and dean, College of Ethnic Studies, California State University at Los Angeles
“ Tis book is both timely and insightful, a persuasive introduction of these unique educational gems to the broader community.”
Kurt Schmoke, president, University of Baltimore, and former mayor, City of Baltimore
“ Tis is the defnitive study of historically Black colleges and universities in the United States. Combining social analysis, fnancial and enrollment data, and statistical analysis, Vital and Valuable provides the most comprehensive picture of the condition and contributions of HBCUs to date. Products of legal segregation in American higher education, underfnanced and underrecognized, HBCUs have ‘made a way out of no way.’ Vital and Valuable afords an in-depth, evidence-based treatment of their record of accomplishment in the vise of American racism.”
William A. Darity Jr., Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics and director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, Duke University
James V. Koch is Board of Visitors Professor of Economics Emeritus and president emeritus at Old Dominion University. His recent books include Runaway College Costs: How College Governing Boards Fail to Protect Teir Students (2020) and Te Impoverishment of the American College Student (2019).
Omari H. Swinton is chair, director of graduate studies, and professor in the Department of Economics at Howard University. He is a past president of the National Economics Association.