HBCUs provide almost twice as many educational opportunities to first-generation student-athlete in comparison to their non-HBCU counterparts.
HBCU athletics impact some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in the USA, but they provide the two most combative elements of poverty: employment and educational opportunities.
HBCUs provide a stable and nurturing environment for those most at risk of not entering or completing college: low-income, first-generation college students. Many of these students are academically underprepared for college, yet they’re precisely the students that the country most needs to obtain college degrees.
On average, more than 300,000 students attend HBCUs each year, and 80 percent of them are African Americans. It’s also worth noting that HBCUs are serving those who need it the most — more than 70 percent of all students at HBCUs qualify for federal Pell Grants and 80 percent of HBCU students receive federal loans.