HBCU Young Alumni: Paying It Forward

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are an integral part of American higher education. Since the founding of the first HBCU, Cheyney University, these institutions have provided access to postsecondary education for African Americans. Presently, over half of African American professionals are graduates of HBCUs (Knight et al., 2012). About 30% of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Blacks in STEM fields are granted by HBCUs (Perna et al., 2009). HBCUs are also the largest producers of African American science PhDs (Gasman & Bowman, 2012). However, historically these institutions have had limited resources to keep their infrastructure in place—today it is no different (Holloman et al., 2003). For HBCUs to survive in the twenty-first century alumni involvement is key. Alumni are particularly important for the development and advancement of institutional resources. Yet, the research on the subject indicates that HBCU alumni are giving less or not giving at all (Cohen, 2006; Reaves, 2006; Williams, 2010).