Video: 4 Things Every Black Student Should Know Before Applying to College

Lorraine Edwards, Editor, BestColleges: Today about 36% of Black adult women and 27% of Black adult men possess a college degree, according to the data from the Education Trust. And during the pandemic, enrollment among Black students dropped 8% compared to the national decline of 4.4%.

In today’s video, I want to go over four major factors that Black students should consider when applying to college, and some resources that can help you get the most out of your college experience.

It’s important for any student to build a list of colleges that best suit their needs. But for Black students, we have to also consider which colleges will give us the resources and support necessary to not only graduate, but to also thrive.

Have you thought about what thriving looks like for you? I think it looks like:

Now, what to study. If it were up to my focus, I would have been a lawyer. Instead, I followed my passions…and then I changed my mind, and then I changed schools, and then I changed my mind again.

If you are one of the lucky few who always knew what you wanted to be, amazing. But if you don’t know what you wanted to be when you grow up, that’s okay, too. There are a lot of ways to get to where you’re going.

One way is to focus on your potential earnings. In recent years, the major with the highest median salary salary for Black students was pharmacy, pharmaceutical science, and administration. In 2021, the median pay for pharmacists was $128,000. That’s a nice chunk of change.

Another way is to focus on job security. Health and medical administrative services is one of the most popular majors for Black students, who make up 21% of degree-holders in this field. I can see why — healthcare is one of the strongest career paths regardless of what the economy is doing.

Ahhh…college applications. The waiting, the anxiety, the stress-eating. If you thought choosing your target school was hard enough, applying the colleges can be even more daunting.

When I went through this process, I felt so much pressure to get everything perfect. And application costs add up, and I applied to six universities. It feels like there’s so much on the line, and I only had one shot to make my family proud.

But look: applying to school is pretty straightforward. The three most important things are:

There’s an overwhelming amount of student debt in the U.S., specifically in the Black and educated community. According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, 32% of Black students who entered college in 2011 defaulted on their loans within six years. Personally, I graduated with over $50k in debt, and that has impacted every decision I’ve made since.

The whole system of higher ed financing can seem like a rigged game, I know. But I’m going to help you play it to win.

So let’s talk about paying for school. Maybe no one’s told you this yet, but not all financial aid is created equal. You want to look for aid that you won’t have to pay back — that means scholarships and grants.

Scholarships are the best form of aid because let’s be real: it’s free money y’all. Scholarships may come from many sources, including colleges and universities, and independent organizations like the Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship. Additionally, financial aid opportunities may offer funding for specific areas of studies, such as engineering or nursing.

One great opportunity to look into: STEM scholarships for Black students. Black students are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math majors. Despite making up more than 12% of the student population, Black students only represent 8% of general engineering majors, 7% of math majors, and 5% of computer engineering majors.

We have four STEM scholarships listed in our full article in the [YouTube video] description, and these are just a few of the opportunities out there.

Next: grants. Grants are also funds that you typically don’t have to pay back. Think of it as a need-based gift to you from the government.

You’ll need to complete the FAFSA if you want to qualify for grants or if you want to look into work-study opportunities to earn extra money towards tuition. A lot of work study jobs can be great: I was a receptionist at my college careers development center, and often got paid to do my homework.

Now if you do take out loans (and most people will have to take out some, at least), you should know that with many private loans the interest starts accruing right away. I wish I started paying my private ones off sooner, because it took me 10 years to pay off $5,000 after interest and deferments. Government-subsidized loans on the other hand won’t start accruing interest until you graduate.

Making sure that prospective Black students are equipped with the info they need to make good choices around college is so important to me, especially right now.

We know that Black women for example are one of the most highly educated American demographics, but they also graduate with more student debt and continue to be disadvantaged when it comes to acquiring wealth over their lifetimes. Finding ways to thrive in college while decreasing the economic burden of getting a degree is one way to start turning the tide.

I hope you found this helpful or informative, and if you did, consider liking, subscribing, or commenting below with other topics you’d like to see us discuss. Until next time.