The fact that Black HBCU students are among the best and brightest leaders and citizens who go on to impact the world by adding immense value and contributions is not new. However, the unprecedented and widespread attention, donations and funding from mainstream America to HBCUs since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd is.

Now the demographics of historically Black colleges and universities are shifting – and studies show 24 percent of HBCU students are not Black. Here are 5 factors on why HBCUs have more non-Black students today than ever before.

1. Due to falling enrollment, HBCUs began actively recruiting non-Black students to fill in the gaps.

For years, HBCUs have experienced a downward trend in enrollment. According to Axios, the decline in enrollment has caused HBCUs to recruit non-Black students to avoid having to close down.

Due to this, “In 2018, non-Black students were 24% of enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15% in 1976,” Axios reported.

2. Integration motivated some Black students to consider non-HBCUs for higher education instead.

After Brown v. Board of Education ruled it illegal to have separate but equal schools, some Black students opted to integrate and attend predominately white institutions (PWIs). This led to a trend that continues today.

3. A few HBCUs have become predominately white, thus changing the culture of the institution.

A handful of HBCUs have become predominately white, according to Axios. Among them are West Virginia State University and Bluefield State College.

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In some instances, the shift has caused racial tensions and shifted the culture of the institutions. Baigen Seawell is a 2019 graduate of West Virginia State University. He told Axios most white students don’t even know the university’s history and why it was necessary in the first place. “We’re losing our HBCU,” Seawell said.

4. Some white students said they want to immerse themselves in the Black experience to become better allies.

Some white students have opted to attend HBCUs because they said they want to learn about the Black experience and be better allies.

Tiago Rachelson was a white sociology major at Morehouse in 2018 when he was one of the subjects of a Vice News documentary on his matriculation at the nation’s top college for Black men.

“I know college is really about getting an education, but here you can get an education academically as well as an education through life,” Rachelson told Vice. H said he attended orehouse because of its “brotherhood component,” Insight Into Diversity reported.

Joshua Packwood – who became the first white valedictorian of an HBCU when he graduated from Morehouse in 2008 – echoed Rachelson’s sentiments.

“For me, being the only one or one of few [White students] was actually the key part to why I wanted that experience because I just thought that would be so transformative in how I would think,” Packwood told CNN in 2016. 

5. Non-Black students can get diversity scholarships when they attend HBCUs.

Non-Blacks students also receive diversity scholarships when they attend an HBCU, making college more affordable for them and their families. This is also driving the trend of more non-Black students attending HBCUs.

It’s sad but true.

— thisangryblackfemale (@thisangryblackf) August 22, 2021

It’s how they keep paying the bills unfortunately.

— #REPRATIONS NOW! (@BlackEndowment) August 22, 2021