Jamel White stopped at booth after booth at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities caravan, part of the Welcome B(l)ack event at Los Angeles Valley College. Studying criminal justice at West L.A., White said he’s primarily interested in going to an HBCU in the fall of 2024.
“I want to get out of the state. I've been a California native all my life, so really to explore and to also network with other people — especially like my people, Black people,” White said. He added that at an HBCU he’ll “feel more at home.”
When asked what he means by “home,” White said, “seeing more people that look like me walk around campus. I don't feel like an outsider. I walk into a class, it's people that look like me, not just I'm the only Black student, or it's only two Black students in this class of 30. So you feel more comfortable.”
He has fortunate timing. In September 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1400, which redefined the College Access Tax Credit to provide up to a $5,000 one-time award for California community college students to transfer to HBCUs.
An HBCU is a college or university established prior to 1964, whose main mission was and is to educate Black Americans, though they serve students of any race.
There are no federally designated HBCUs in California. (Charles R. Drew University has a history of serving Black students, but does not have a federal designation).
Tied to the funding provided by AB 1400 is the expectation that students return to the state after they graduate.
Providing students with some funding to attend HBCUs makes it easier for students to use an existing transfer agreement between California community colleges and nearly 40 HBCU campuses. Since 2015, upon meeting certain academic requirements, California community college students are guaranteed transfer admission to participating HBCUs.
In the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, there were just over 50 such transfer students at the nearly 40 HBCU campuses under this agreement.
That number may be higher due to challenges tracking transfers to private schools and HBCUs, according to Arynn Auzout Settle, project director for the California Community College transfer agreement.
Iris Tabb, director of admissions at Harris-Stowe State University in Missouri, attended the HBCU caravan at Los Angeles Valley College. She said the news of AB 1400 was very exciting, “that the state recognizes the opportunity for students to experience an HBCU education and then ultimately bringing that experience back to the state of California, ultimately adding to the rich, diverse, nature of the state as it is already.”
Tuition at Harris-Stowe can cost over $10,000 per year (in-state tuition is about $5,800 annually), and that's not including other fees. Tabb says the grant can make a substantial difference, along with other possible merit scholarships.
Darla Cooper, the executive director of The RP Group, a nonprofit that examined factors influencing transfer success among Black students, said that AB 1400 provides students with another option.
The new benefit could also help deal with an obstacle to Black student success. RP data shows nearly two-thirds of Black students who attend college in California start at a community college, but only 3% successfully transfer to a university in two years.
In their most recent report, The RP Group surveyed 7,000 current and former California Community college students who identified as African American or Black on their transfer experiences. The report found that students who regularly experienced microaggressions on campus were far less likely to pass gateway math on the first try relative to those who experienced microaggressions less frequently or not at all.
“The experience of Black students on campuses is they experience bias, discrimination, racism, and microaggressions quite regularly. Going to an HBCU erases a lot of that, not 100%, and not just for California, but across the nation,” Cooper said.
Nichelle Henderson, vice president of the LACCD board of trustees, spoke to a full auditorium at Los Angeles Valley College’s Welcome B(l)ack event. Henderson said that she went to a predominantly white institution and she did not get the support she needed as a Black student. At the college she attended, she felt like the only one in the room.
“Although I was very prepared to go to college, very prepared, when I got there and that lack of support caused me to doubt myself,” Henderson said. Subsequently, she said it took her several decades to complete her undergraduate degree.
The RP Group also found that students who participate in Umoja were more likely to find a community where they belong and to personally connect with someone at their college who supports their academic success.
Umoja is a community dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of Black students and other students. At L.A. Valley College, for example, the Umoja Black Scholars program is a mentorship-based community for students of color.
“HBCUs are Umoja put through the whole college — having relations with other students, faculty, staff. Imagine if in every class it’s like being in Umoja,” Cooper said.
Elliott Coney, counselor and coordinator of Umoja Black Scholars at Los Angeles Valley College, spearheaded the Welcome B(l)ack event in October, which included the HBCU caravan. Coney said the Welcome B(l)ack event originated during the pandemic to connect students to one another.
“As an HBCU alum, I just want to expose students to opportunities that they're not familiar with. HBCUs were a vital part of my life and it's the reason why I'm here and doing this work,” he said. “So I just want to make sure that, you know, students have opportunities to come see African American success, Black success, as well as schools that are going to help them to obtain that.”
Yisak Mulugeta, a West L.A. College student majoring in computer science, attended the event to get to know more people. He hadn’t been thinking much about what he’ll do in a year.
“Now I’m here it just seems like a really good opportunity just to learn about what comes after community college,” Mulugeta said.
Donovan Starks, a student in computer engineering at West L.A., approached HBCU representatives in the caravan. He talked to as many as he could to see if they were a match — he met their needs and they had what he wanted, a golf program.
Golf is a predominantly white sport, Starks said, and he wants to change that; most people see him and assume he plays football. He said they’re shocked when he tells them he plays golf.
It was also appealing to him that colleges and universities in the HBCU Caravan offered on-site admissions.
“I like the outcome of people that graduate from HBCUs. They have a very good camaraderie with other alumni,” Starks said. He also said this type of connection fostered at HBCUs will help when college gets rough.
“I like the enthusiasm that most HBCUs have,” Starks said. “It's not just come here and get your education. It's come here and make a connection and get your education.”
