History
HBCUs are institutions of higher learning established prior to 1964 with the education of Black Americans as their primary mission. Many were founded and developed in an environment of post-slavery segregation when most postsecondary institutions were not open to people of color. The Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 included a single institution open to Black people, Alcorn State University in Mississippi. In 1890 the second Land-Grant Act required states to provide Black students with access to land-grant institutions or provide them with alternatives, ultimately creating 16 exclusively Black institutions. Subsequent institutions were founded by the Freedmen’s Bureau, Black churches, and the American Missionary Association, culminating in federal financial support and recognition for HBCUs in the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965.
