Winston-Salem State University is the next-to-smallest of five public historically Black colleges and universities in North Carolina. The university is focused on social mobility and has lately been investing more in health sciences like nursing. It serves almost 5,000 students, with most coming from Forsyth, Mecklenburg, and Guilford counties. Enrollment has been slowly increasing the past couple of years, after a 200-student drop around the pandemic. Almost 75% of its student body is female, following a national trend of fewer men attending HBCUs. WSSU also has a large portion of first-generation learners and more than 70% of its students are pell-eligible.Bonita Brown has been the university’s chancellor for more than two years. She came in on the heels of the HBCU facing a $3.3 million deficit and cuts to several dozen staff positions (most of which were vacant). The university is still continuing to evaluate other positions for “realignment” as they become vacant. Like other public universities in the state, WSSU is also trying to address a deferred maintenance backlog and several outdated campus buildings.Brown started in July 2024, becoming Winston-Salem State’s first permanent female chancellor.What is one important thing happening in higher education and affecting your institution that no one is talking about?One issue that deserves more attention is the growing gap between those who have access to higher education and those who may be pushed further away from it by financial barriers. At Winston-Salem State University, approximately 71 percent of our students are Pell Grant eligible, which means federal financial aid is often the difference between attending college and not attending at all.
