Texas' HBCUs (Dallas, Waco, Atlanta: credit, school district, universities)

[mpope409]

I was in a conversation in another thread when it came to me:

Why do Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M, Texas College, and Paul Quinn College all have somewhat of a bad rep? I think that there are about thirty-something historically black colleges and universities in the United States, but the ones in Texas are known as the ghetto institutions. TSU probably the least as much.

The rest of the south has Tugaloo, Clark Atlanta, Spelman, Bethune, Morehouse, and the northeast has Howard, Virginia State, and Hampton. All of these schools are relatively pricey, yet are known for being very astounding, making great black men and women out of their students.

It seems that Texas has gotten the short end, but I can't for the life of me understand why.

[karnival96]

I don't know if I would necessarily characterize all of these schools as ghetto or deficient without further investigation. Most of the Texas institutions you listed are public entities and as such have historically received the short end of the stick when it came to funding. Also, because they generally consider it to be part of their missions to extend educational opportunities to students who might not otherwise have such options, the schools are not as selective as many other institutions and tend to admit students from a variety of backgrounds. With that being said, these schools provide an excellent opportunity to those willing to apply themselves and have sent many stellar graduates into the workforce. Prairie View's website has a list of distinguished graduates (http://www.pvamu.edu/pages/421.asp) that includes the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the former mayor of Kansas City, top level executives at major corporations across the country, high level military officers and successful entrepeneurs.


From what I understand, Paul Quinn (which is a private institution) has had a history of financial struggles and has moved (from Waco to the former campus of Bishop College in Dallas) and merged in order to survive. TSU has also been in the news recently, due to financial mismanagement issues (not unlike those at Clark Atlanta and Morris Brown - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_106226419). Each institution is different and has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I would suggest that you visit the schools that you are interested in and find out the real story on those institutions, before making decisions based on hearsay.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by karnival96

I don't know if I would necessarily characterize all of these schools as ghetto or deficient without further investigation. Most of the Texas institutions you listed are public entities and as such have historically received the short end of the stick when it came to funding. Also, because they generally consider it to be part of their missions to extend educational opportunities to students who might not otherwise have such options, the schools are not as selective as many other institutions and tend to admit students from a variety of backgrounds. With that being said, these schools provide an excellent opportunity to those willing to apply themselves and have sent many stellar graduates into the workforce. Prairie View's website has a list of distinguished graduates (http://www.pvamu.edu/pages/421.asp) that includes the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the former mayor of Kansas City, top level executives at major corporations across the country, high level military officers and successful entrepeneurs.


From what I understand, Paul Quinn (which is a private institution) has had a history of financial struggles and has moved (from Waco to the former campus of Bishop College in Dallas) and merged in order to survive. TSU has also been in the news recently, due to financial mismanagement issues (not unlike those at Clark Atlanta and Morris Brown - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_106226419). Each institution is different and has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I would suggest that you visit the schools that you are interested in and find out the real story on those institutions, before making decisions based on hearsay.

Well see you're making my point. As I have never attended any of the schools, I know very little about them. What I was basically trying to say is why do our schools have bad reputations that proceed them. All around, you'll hear about the students' wild lifestyles at Prairie View before you hear about how they're excelling in classes. Never said that these schools aren't worth honorable mention, but it seems they just don't get it as compared to all the others.

And Morris Brown's situation is pretty much old news which is why I didn't mention it. I believe it lost its accreditation and has almost no enrollment as we speak.