Black students who attend historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are more satisfied with their college experiences than Black students who attend other types of postsecondary institutions, a new Urban Institute report reveals. HBCUs are often portrayed in headlines as financially troubled institutions with lower-than-average graduation rates. Though these descriptors are not completely inaccurate, for those who study HBCUs, and more importantly, for many HBCU alums, this finding of greater satisfaction among HBCU graduates makes perfect sense.

HBCUs, first established in 1837, by definition have as their principal mission “the education of black Americans.” In other words, regardless of the challenges HBCUs currently face, they are institutions whose history is rooted in providing educational opportunities to Black Americans.

Though an increasing number of predominantly white colleges and universities have widely publicized commitments to diversity via the creation of diversity task forces or the hiring of chief diversity officers, very few have experienced any substantive change in the racial composition of a predominantly white faculty, administration, or student body. And though espoused commitments by these universities to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment are in most cases genuine, the reality is, most postsecondary institutions’ history is rooted in serving predominantly, if not exclusively, white students.

The new Urban report highlights the differences in college satisfaction between Black students who attended a school with a historical mission to serve Black students and those who attended institutions that have over time incorporated serving diverse students into their missions. The report, which measured satisfaction across six areas, found that Black students at HBCUs rated their satisfaction higher than Black students who attended non-HBCUs across all six categories.

College experiences can be among the most influential in a person’s life. That Black students at HBCUs report higher levels of satisfaction with their college experiences than Black students at non-HBCUs speaks to the importance of having an institutional mission grounded in serving Black students.

And the fact that HBCUs graduate lower-income, less academically prepared Black students at the same rate as better-resourced institutions, speaks to the environment and culture of HBCUs that generate such high satisfaction. Just imagine what they could do if appropriately funded.

Read the full article about HBCUs by Bryan J. Cook at the Urban Institute.