Private HBCUs continue fight for long-term stability

BARBER-SCOTIA COLLEGE

Barber-Scotia College, a historically Black campus that lost accreditation in 2004, aims to apply for membership with Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. A successful application would make BSC students eligible for federal loans, a key marker of viability.

Chris Rey couldn’t refer to a textbook for his first year as Barber-Scotia College president.

Rey, who was hired in July 2023, has spent the year navigating a steep learning curve as he learns the culture and challenges facing the Concord school, which is unaccredited and enrolls less than 100 students. Among his duties is connecting with folks in the community to share Barber-Scotia’s story and tap into alumni – a job made more difficult without the resources and infrastructure accredited schools can readily access.

“For me, being a new president is very unique,” Rey said. “I was entering a role where we didn’t have an operational culture because we were unaccredited. We weren’t in a space where I could fall into a place where there was a solid operational culture in place. So, I’ve had to start helping build that here at Barber-Scotia.”

Financial, accreditation and infrastructure issues have long caused points of concern for historically Black colleges, which have endured underfunding, especially in the South, where nearly 100 of the nation’s 105 HBCUs are located. BSC aims to become accredited for the first time since 2004 by applying for membership in the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. Without accreditation, students can’t apply for federal financial aid, which limits enrollment at schools that have historically enrolled people of limited economic means or are first-generation collegians.

Barber-Scotia College President Chris Rey.

Marybeth Gasman, a professor at Rutgers University and nationally recognized expert on HBCUs, said such issues are common among smaller, private schools, where many of their issues are financial rather than academic.

Although they make up only 3% of the nation’s four-year colleges, HBCUs enroll 10% of Black collegians and 20% of Black graduates.

“This kind of thing isn’t anything new,” Gasman said. “It is fairly normal for some smaller, under-resourced HBCUs to go through these types of issues. Typically, the trouble isn’t always with academics, it’s somewhere in the financial area. There may be audits that don’t come through clean or a variety of things like that.”

Gasman offered a glimmer of hope for Barber-Scotia in Morris Brown College, a private HBCU in Atlanta that went unaccredited for 19 years before regaining its credential in 2022. SACS revoked Morris Brown’s membership in 2003, but a series of public and private partnerships, including a deal with the Hilton hotel chain to build a hotel on campus and fund a hospitality management degree program.

Morris Brown’s comeback was completed when it earned TRACS accreditation and as of the spring 2024 semester enrolled more than 300 students. Before losing accreditation, the school enrolled more than 2,500.

“I think that [Morris Brown] has been the impetus,” Gasman said, “because what I know is that just in conversations and at meetings and things like that, I have heard Barber-Scotia alums and people who are instrumental trying to bring it back talking about how they saw what happened at Morris Brown and really would like that to happen to Barber-Scotia.”

Rutgers University professor Marybeth Gasman, a nationally recognized expert on historically Black colleges and universities.

BSC is admitting students for the 2024-25 academic year and Rey said the school has received at least 60 applications.

North Carolina has 11 HBCUs, the most of any state, including six private liberal arts campuses. Two private HBCUs, Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte and Livingstone College in Salisbury, have benefited from large infusions of investment in recent years.

JCSU, for instance, received $83 million from the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative to transform the campus’ academic and business strategies with a goal of sustainability.

The MREI was launched in 2021 as the country faced a national reckoning after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minnesota, police.

Livingstone last month received a school-record $10 million gift from an anonymous donor to support the “Miracle on Monroe Street: Livingstone College Reimagined” infrastructure and capital projects campaign. The donor previously gave $7 million during in 2023.

“This is an incredible moment for Livingstone College,” President Anthony Davis said in a statement. “Our anonymous donor has truly believed in our mission and the transformative power of education. This $10 million donation will ensure that we can complete phase one of our construction projects and move directly into phase two, all from a debt-free position.”

Schools like Barber-Scotia and Raleigh’s Saint Augustine’s University, like most private colleges, rely heavily on tuition student and alumni giving. That combination of smaller enrollment and limited investment leave such schools on a thin margin between sustainability and disaster.

“Coming in as a first-year president and trying to change the operational culture, we’ve redone our entire database of givers to the school,” Rey said. “So, the alumni we’ve engaged with in the past as well as a whole other group of alumni has been daunting. But the proof is in the pudding as we’ve brought in over a half million dollars from alumni giving” since he was hired.

Rey says the plan is to apply for accreditation in October.

The Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges last month reversed its decision to strip St. Augustine’s of accreditation. As a result, students are eligible for financial aid, although enrollment is expected to take a hit due to the accrediting agency’s late decision.

“The SACSCOC arbitration committee’s decision serves as a pivotal moment for SAU’s redemption and renewal,” said Brian Boulware, chairman of St. Augustine’s board of trustees. “The unanimous reversal by the arbitration committee rightfully corrects the injustice inflicted upon SAU by SACSCOC’s initial ruling and underscores the university’s steadfast commitment to excellence and growth.”

Although St. Augustine’s employees have complained they haven’t been paid since February, classes will start on time, according to interim president Marcus Burgess.

“August 19 will be our first day of class,” he told The Triangle Tribune.

Comments