HBCU Facts and Statistics

By

Jessica Bryant

Updated on February 18, 2025

Edited by

Lyss Welding

• Fact-checked by Marley Rose

Learn more about our editorial process

HBCUs enroll nearly one-tenth of all Black college students across over 100 institutions in the United States. Keep reading for a list of HBCUs and more HBCU facts and statistics.

Credit: Image Credit: Visual Vic / Moment / Getty Images

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) opened the path to higher education for Black students more than 150 years ago. Now, they enroll just under one-tenth of all Black college students and are a major driver of their socioeconomic mobility.

This report explores how many students enroll in and graduate from these institutions. It also examines how HBCUs are funded and what kinds of financial assistance students are offered to attend them.

What Is an HBCU?

HBCUs are defined by the Department of Education as accredited institutions that were established prior to 1964 and have the principal mission of educating Black Americans.^[3]

Though HBCUs were previously the only option for Black students to receive a college education, they now serve as one of many. For the last 10 years, about 9% of all Black college students were enrolled at HBCUs.^{Note Reference [1],[4]}

How Many HBCUs Are There?

As of 2024, there were 100 Title IV HBCUs in 19 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).^{Note Reference [1]} This means each of these institutions participates in federal financial aid programs. Nearly every state with an HBCU is in the South or Southeast. Half are public institutions, and half are private institutions.^{Note Reference [1], [5]}

Map of HBCUs by State

HBCU Enrollment

In 2022, 343,682 students were enrolled in HBCUs.^{Note Reference [1]} Between 1976 and 2022, enrollment at HBCUs increased by more than 54%.^{Note Reference [1]}

• HBCU enrollment peaked in 2022, rising nearly 20% from the year prior.
• In 2020, HBCU enrollment was at its lowest point in the last 10 years, at 279,157 students.
• Despite dropping in 2020, undergraduate enrollment at HBCUs increased by 0.8% between fall 2020 and fall 2022.^[5]

Black Student Enrollment

As of 2022, Black students accounted for roughly 76% of all enrolled HBCU students. Over the last 10 years, the percentage of Black HBCU students has decreased by five percentage points while the percentage of non-Black HBCU students has increased by five percentage points.^{Note Reference [1]}

• Black student enrollment at HBCUs peaked in 2010 when 265,908 Black students were enrolled. They accounted for over 81% of the student population that year.
• Non-Black enrollment at HBCUs peaked in 2022 when 101,644 non-Black students were enrolled. They accounted for nearly 30% of the student population during the year.

Enrollment by Sex

Female enrollment at HBCUs has surpassed male enrollment every year since 1976. As of 2022, female students accounted for 63% of HBCU learners.^{Note Reference [1]}

• Over the last 10 years, female enrollment was at its highest in 2010 and its lowest in 2016.
• During the last 10 years, male enrollment peaked in 2010 and dropped to its lowest in 2020.
• Male enrollment in 2020 was the lowest it’s been since 1986.

NCES does not include information about nonbinary or transgender student enrollment.

Enrollment by Institution Type

The majority of HBCUs are private four-year institutions, but public four-year HBCUs enroll the largest number of students.^{Note Reference [1]}

• Since 1976, learners enrolled at public four-year HBCUs accounted for approximately 65% of all HBCU students.
• During the same period, learners enrolled at private four-year HBCUs accounted for about 25% of all HBCU students.
• Enrollment at public and private two-year HBCUs has historically accounted for about one-tenth of all HBCU enrollment.

HBCU Graduation Rates

Graduation rates among HBCU students are not as clearly reported as general graduation rates for all students regardless of institution type. But during the 2021-2022 academic year, 48,779 degrees were conferred to HBCU students.^[8] They accounted for 2% of all degrees conferred to undergraduate students in the U.S. during the year.^[9]

According to a 2017 Education Trust survey and data from NCES, Black students who attend HBCUs have an average six-year graduation rate of about 32%.^{Note Reference [2]} By comparison, as of 2024, Black students at all school types have an overall six-year graduation rate of roughly 46%.^[10]

Based on the survey, at HBCUs where 40-75% of first-year students are low-income, Black students have slightly higher graduation rates than Black students attending non-HBCUs.^{Note Reference [2]}

• The average graduation rate for Black HBCU students was 38% as of 2017.
• The average graduation rate for Black non-HBCU students was 32%.

Some HBCUs report their graduation rates on their websites. As of 2022:

• Spelman College had an average six-year graduation rate of 76%.^[11]
• Howard University had an average four-year graduation rate of 60% and an average six-year graduation rate of 70%.^[12]
• Hampton University had an average six-year graduation rate of 57%, based on students who enrolled in 2015.^[13]
• Morehouse College maintains an average six-year graduation rate of 54%.^[14]

Cost of Attendance at HBCUs

During the 2023-2024 academic year, the average total cost of attendance for on-campus students at HBCUs ranged from $27,610-$31,452.^{Note Reference [1]}

• Average tuition and fees were $12,007 for in-state students and $15,878 for out-of-state students.
• Average cost for books and other supplies was $1,437.
• Average on-campus room and board costs were $9,779.

Financial Aid at HBCUs

A BestColleges analysis of data obtained from the Department of Education’s data system found that during the 2021-2022 academic year, the total amount of grant aid awarded to HBCU students at 100 institutions was $551 million.^{Note Reference [1]}

• On average, 85% of undergraduate HBCU students were awarded federal, state, local, or institutional grant aid during the 2021-2022 academic year.
• The average amount of grant aid awarded to undergraduate HBCU students was $11,177.
• During the same year, 61% of undergraduate HBCU students were awarded Pell Grants.
• The average amount of Pell Grant aid awarded to students in 2021-2022 was $5,470.
• 54% of undergraduate HBCU students were awarded federal student loans.
• The average federal student loan amount awarded to undergraduate HBCU students was $5,952.

HBCU Funding

Like all other institutions, government funding is an essential part of HBCUs’ revenue. However, HBCUs rely on funding more so than other institutions. In 2021-2022, funds from federal, state, and local governments accounted for 57% of HBCUs’ total $10.7 billion revenue.^{Note Reference [8]} By comparison, government funding during the same year accounted for about 46% of all institutions’ revenue.^[15]

• In 2021-2022, funds from federal, state, and local governments were 67% of public HBCUs’ total revenue.^{Note Reference [8]}
• At private HBCUs where revenue tends to be driven by tuition and fees rather than funding, government funds still made up 39% of total revenue.^{Note Reference [8]}

Under federal law, 18 HBCUs are considered land-grant institutions.^[16] This status entitles them to receive the same funding per student as all other land-grant institutions. However, according to a 2022 Forbes analysis, at least 16 land-grant HBCUs have been underfunded by a total of $12.8 billion since 1987.^[17]

In March 2022, the Biden administration announced a state-by-state breakdown of funding that would be awarded to HBCUs under the American Rescue Plan. Under the plan, HBCUs received more than $2.7 billion in federal funding.^[18]

Frequently Asked Questions About HBCUs

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 2022.
2. A Look at Black Student Success: Identifying Top- and Bottom-Performing Institutions. The Education Trust. March 2017.
3. Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities. NCES. Accessed December 2024.
4. Stay Informed: Latest Enrollment Information. NCES. October 2022.
5. Fast Facts: Historically Black Colleges and Universities. NCES. 2021.
6. Social Mobility Outcomes for HBCU Alumni. United Negro College Fund. 2021.
7. A Proclamation on National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, 2022. The White House. September 2022.
8. Selected statistics on degree-granting historically Black colleges and universities, by control and level of institution: Selected years, 1990 through 2022. NCES. December 2023.
9. Bachelor’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity and sex of student: Selected years, 1976-77 through 2021-22. NCES. November 2023.
10. Graduation rate from first institution attended for first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students at 4-year postsecondary institutions, by race/ethnicity, time to completion, sex, control of institution, and percentage of applications accepted: Selected cohort entry years, 1996 through 2016. NCES. January 2024.
11. Spelman: At a Glance. Spelman College. 2023.
12. Outcomes | Office of Strategy. Howard University. Accessed December 2024.
13. Student Right-to-Know Act. Hampton University. 2022.
14. Student Achievement. Morehouse College Office of Data Analytics, Institutional Research, and Effectiveness (DIRE). 2022.
15. Total revenue of public degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by source of revenue and level of institution: Selected years, 2007-08 through 2021-22. NCES. January 2024.
16. The U.S. Land-Grant University System: Overview and Role in Agricultural Research. Congressional Research Service. August 2022.
17. How America Cheated Its Black Colleges. Forbes. February 2022.
19. FACT SHEET: State-by-State Analysis of Record $2.7 Billion American Rescue Plan Investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The White House. March 2022.
20. Bradley, M., Gorham Hervey, J., and Murphy, D. K. Doing More With Less: An Exploratory Analysis of HBCU Instructional Spending Ratios. Genesis Ed Solutions. June 2024.