Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are seeing record enrollment growth — in North Carolina and nationwide. Experts and university leaders attribute the influx to shifting political climates and rollbacks of diversity programs at majority-white institutions.In North Carolina, which trails Alabama in total number of HBCUs, at least five of the state’s 11 historically Black schools have touted significant gains this fall.Marybeth Gasman, a Rutgers University professor who studies college trends, said the HBCU gains are driven in part by national politics. She noted, in particular, the Trump administration’s push to eliminate all vestiges of DEI from college campuses.”A lot of the majority institutions that said that they cared about things like diversity and inclusion have shown that they really don’t care that much once pressured by the Trump administration,” Gasman said. “Black students have seen this.“I’m a historian,” she added, “and I’ve never quite seen higher education be bullied like this.”
