Just the other day, a black girl was violently thrown to the floor and arrested in school by a police officer, showing that racism is very much alive in the U.S., and that solidarity in the black community continues to be a necessity. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have often been criticized for their functionality in what many people see as a post-racial society, but a new study shows that HBCU students feel more prepared to handle post-grad life as a black adult than their non-HBCU counterparts.
According to a recent Gallup-USA Funds Minority College Graduates Report, those who graduate from a HBCU have better well-being in several areas of life (purpose, social, financial, community and physical) than those black students who chose to attend a non-HBCU. The Huffington Post reports Gallup conducted a study of 520 black graduates of HBCUs and 1,758 black graduates of non-HBCUs, surveying them on their college experience and their satisfaction with their jobs.
The study found that 55 percent of HBCU grads found themselves prepared for post-graduate life, while only 29 percent of non-HBCU graduates felt the same way. In the chart below, it’s apparent that a greater percentage of HBCU students are thriving in every area of well-being than non-HBCU grads.
HBCU grads also indicated they had tremendous support from their mentors, professors and long-term assignments, correlating with the fact they also felt better prepared for post-grad life due to their HBCU alma mater.
“Not only were black graduates from HBCUs much more likely to say they had a mentor who encouraged their goals and dreams and had a professor who cared about them as a person; they were also more likely to say they had a job or an internship where they applied what they were learning,” Brandon Busteed, executive director of education and workforce development at Gallup, told The Huffington Post. “So it’s both the emotional experiences and these experiential things that are connected to work preparation that are separating them according to their graduates.”
While all individuals vary in their college development, HBCUs are doing an awesome job preparing students for the success. Hopefully non-HBCUs will take the hint, and start doing a better job encouraging and caring for black students.