Payscale.com recently released its annual rankings on American colleges and universities, lining schools of all sizes, missions and affluence up in one large pen to be trotted out in lines divided by major, parties, research and graduate earning potential. Historically Black colleges and universities, as they tend to do on most lists like this, trended towards the bottom in the return on investment category.
HBCUs have little to offer if the conversation revolves around students who don’t graduate, those who don’t earn high salaries, and those who don’t pay on their student loans. In fact, most colleges, historically Black, predominantly white or otherwise, would be uncomfortable in that kind of discussion, because all schools are trying to find ways to recruit richer, smarter students who will earn a degree in four years and give money back to the school following the 15 to 20-year span it typically takes to realize full earning potential.
But if the conversation is about social mobility, community development and current wars against poverty and racial inequality, there is no institution in the world that stands up to the output of historically Black colleges. In any historic or present context, HBCUs stand alone as the institutions best equipped to take students from any economic, racial or cultural circumstance and create within them industry-ready professionals driven to success.
Read JL Carter, Sr.’s full commentary here.
Paragraph #3 answers the dumb topic question perfectly. Can one imagine our communities if we did not have our HBCUs? Many would not even bother to pursue a higher education. And the wording of paragraph #2 is baffling, at best.