For-Profit, for African-Americans?

Oh, no! You won't be getting a printed SCUP–45 Preliminary Program in the mail this year. Instead, SCUP is going green and regularly updating this digital version (PDF), which you can download at any time.

Check it out! You don't want to miss higher education's premier planning conference, and your one chance this year to assemble with nearly 1,500 of your peers and colleagues: July 10–14, Minneapolis.

---

---

SCUP Link

Could it be entirely coincidental that the federal government's budget adds funds for HBCUs and then the for-profit educational market starts looking more closely at black students - including maybe "partnering" with current HBCUs?

On Thursday, a new venture announced that it will seek to become a for-profit higher education company focused on serving black students. Officials were vague about how they would do so, but acknowledged that they would be seeking one or more partnerships with existing institutions that have accreditation. That has been a popular approach of late with investors who are looking to move into new higher education markets -- since accreditation is easier to hold on to (even with a change of ownership) than to earn from scratch, and accreditation is required for students to receive federal financial aid.

One source familiar with some of the exploratory discussions about Latimer Education, as the new venture is called, said that the goal was to align with a private, financially challenged historically black college. One of Latimer's founders confirmed that working with a black college was one idea under consideration, but he said that other ideas were as well.

---

---

SCUP's Planning Institute: Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers while you engage in one of the three SCUP Planning Institute Steps. In addition to being offered on demand, on campuses to teams of campus leaders, the institute steps are also offered to all professionals at varying times and venues. Currently scheduled are:

• May 22–23, Ann Arbor, MI - Step I
• July 10, Minneapolis, MN - Step I (in conjunction with SCUP–45)
• October 2, Ann Arbor, MI - Step I
• January 21–22, Tuscon, AZ - Step II and Step III

HBCU Reconstruction

HBCUs are getting more attention lately, with President Obama recently appointing a commission to work on what some call "HBCU Reconstruction." This excerpt from an article in The Presidency, by Charlie Nelms, chancellor of North Carolina Central University is a brief refresher on HBCUs, MSIs, and so forth. You'll need a subscription to get deeper into the article.

To be classified as an MSI, the student body representation of Hispanic, African-American, American Indian/Alaskan native, or Asian/Pacific Islander, students must be at least 25 percent. In less than 5 percent of cases, MSIs present with no dominant ethnic representation but report a minority enrollment of 50 percent or greater. MSIs account for approximately one-third of all colleges and universities—a total of 1,254 institutions in 2004—but they enroll nearly 60 percent, or 3 million, of America’s minority students.

Two types of MSIs are precluded from growing by federal legislation.3 These are the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), constrained by definition as those colleges established prior to 1964 for the purpose of educating African Americans; and tribal colleges and universities. They account for 5 percent and 1 percent of total minority enrollment, respectively.

Given that, the growth of MSIs primarily is caused by the expansion of institutions serving blacks outside of the HBCUs and those serving Hispanic students.4 The number of black-serving, non-HBCUs more than doubled and the number of Hispanic-serving colleges and universities increased more than six-fold from 1984 to 2004.

---

Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Challenges, Opportunities and Traditions: A Snapshot Look at Today’s HBCUs

Think you need to know more about HBCUs than you do? You're probably right:

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) add a rich texture to the fabric of higher education in the United States. Their legacy is one of access and opportunity.

Like every institution of higher learning, HBCUs must work continually to sustain quality. Always a test, that’s even more difficult in today’s economic climate. While in many ways the issues that HBCUs face mirror those of all universities, the unique HBCU mission adds an overlay of additional factors that must be considered. At times, presidents of HBCUs must feel like they’re walking a tight rope in a typhoon.

In a series of recent interviews, the leaders of several HBCUs in the AASCU membership shared their perspectives on some of the key challenges they face today. Their observations provide a snapshot look at the current state of public HBCUs.