If you are white, what would encourage you to attend a HBCU? (Atlanta: appointed, loan)

[equinox63]

If you were a white college student or the parent of a white college student (considering that many would receive extra funding due to their "minority" status at an HBCU), what would convince you to attending an educational institution such as Morehouse, Clark Atlanta University, or Spelman?

To put it another way, what would keep you from attending these institutions?

[lastminutemom]

I don't think the money statement is accurate. A friend of mine's child (white) applied to Spelman. She really wanted to go and had great credentials including some national science award. She got in but got no real money and she came from a family with no money.

I know multiple white people who went to graduate school at Clark -- they have some unique programs that can't be found anywhere else in GA.

[Iconographer]

Their excellence. My friend (white female) got her graduate degree in Library Science from Spelman. They arguably have one of the best LS programs in the country.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I don't think the money statement is accurate. A friend of mine's child (white) applied to Spelman. She really wanted to go and had great credentials including some national science award. She got in but got no real money and she came from a family with no money.

I know multiple white people who went to graduate school at Clark -- they have some unique programs that can't be found anywhere else in GA.

Yeah, I was just told the bit about the "minority status" from a former student. I would have to look into it...

But the question still remains, if some of these schools offer "some unique programs that can't be found anywhere else in GA" and are generally well-regarded, why don't more non-black people attend... and what would convince them to do so? Is the HBCU status a turn-off to some? Just curious...

Or do way more non-black students attend than I think?

[Mishap]

^It's private school. They cost a lot unless the school has a massive endowment and your kid has ridiculous grades/scores. Given the HBCU's generally don't have tons of scholarship cash to throw around, outside of having some esoteric major not offered anywhere else, the schools don't offer significant value over public schools. I wouldn't recommend it (or any mid-tier private school) unless your college funds are overflowing and your kid has an amazing reason not to go anywhere else.

I think the argument against any private school (outside the top 30 or so) is that unless you can pay for it all up front (and ignore the poorer return on investment), debt load can outstrip any added earning potential. There's the argument that in these schools it's about who you know and there's certainly something to that. If you're the 3rd generation to attend Yale (think George W. Bush), your dad's fraternity's got a spot lined up for you and a cushy rec letter/job/etc filed away long before you step foot on campus. If you're middle class and there on scholarship, you're far more likely to have to make it on your own vs. having ready made connections. If you're already a good student, more than likely you'll succeed somehow regardless if you go to Emory or KSU and private school tuition just means a bigger loan balance to work down.

A quick look at the numbers shows the HBCUs seem to be ~95% black and usually less than 0.1% report themselves as white (although some in that remaining 5% aren't reporting). There are white students there but I'd venture its hard to say they're going to be setup w/ any strong social network (somehow I don't think Alpha Phi Alpha et al will be waiting w/ a bid).

Honestly if you're strapped for cash, send them to community college for a year or two to bulk up their grades and transfer out. I did my 1st year at GT (w/ HOPE) before transferring to an Ivy and that saved my parents ~35k. The last 2-3 yrs determine where the degree comes from and if the kid is good, they'll do fine and be able to minimize their debt.

[gtcorndog]

ROTC scholarship's fall out of the sky over at HBCUs. At a traditional college they are very competitive to get and the avg SAT score is upward of 1300 (math and verbal). If you go to a HBCU you can get a full scholarship with about a 1000 SAT score. The scholarhip's aren't tied to race because that is discriminatory, so this is the military's way of promoting/increasing "diversity." I have known a few white guys who went to HBCU's because they could not get a ROTC scholarship to their first choice school and this was their only choice of ensuring a commission as a military officer. Pretty good way to get $100,000 of money for college if you can put up with the HBCU environment.

[Listennow32]

Depending on your background it may be a culturally challenging environment. Have you ever been a minority before? Or situations where you are a minority? If not, get ready to experience something entirely new. However, as other posters have stated, if you have the funds or the grades to land a good scholarship, then go for it. I think you'll come out a more well rounded person.

[Big L]

Originally Posted by equinox63

If you were a white college student or the parent of a white college student (considering that many would receive extra funding due to their "minority" status at an HBCU), what would convince you to attending an educational institution such as Morehouse, Clark Atlanta University, or Spelman?

To put it another way, what would keep you from attending these institutions?

As someone else stated, these are private schools. That changes the ballgame even with scholarships. Since people tend to go where they will feel comfortable, I would venture to guess that a non-minority student with the grades and money to go to a private university would simply head to Emory even if CAU or Morehouse were offering more money.

What I don't understand is why the public HBCUs in the state aren't upgraded and brought more to the forefront. If a kid from Atlanta can bite the bullet and spend 4-5 years in places like Carrollton, Statesboro, or Valdosta, then it shouldn't be all that difficult to convince some of the same kids to spend 4-5 years in Albany, Fort Valley, or Savannah. However, it doesn't seem like those schools are even doing anything to attract African-American students these days, much less non-African-American ones. I am a proud HBCU graduate myself (Southern University), but the public HBCUs here leave a lot to be desired. I wouldn't be shocked or disappointed at all if my child ended up being one of those kids in Carrollton, Statesboro, or Valdosta.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by Mishap

A quick look at the numbers shows the HBCUs seem to be ~95% black and usually less than 0.1% report themselves as white (although some in that remaining 5% aren't reporting). There are white students there but I'd venture its hard to say they're going to be setup w/ any strong social network (somehow I don't think Alpha Phi Alpha et al will be waiting w/ a bid).

Look at Kirkwood... It went from virtually all white, to virtually all black, and now its like a 50/50 mix... The pioneering white people that came after the "post all-black" era certainly didn't have a strong social network already established, they kind of created it. Plus, I think many HBCU students would welcome a little diversity. (This is definitely true in South Fulton and South Dekalb High Schools.) So I wonder if this type thing could happen at CAU, Morehouse, or Spelman... (if the students were to consider a private school education)...

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

Pretty good way to get $100,000 of money for college if you can put up with the HBCU environment.

Aside from being a minority, what would make the environment difficult to put up with? After all, in many instances, black people are the minority all the time... and they seem to manage.