re: graduation rates of HBCUs vs PWIs...
I know one of the biggest problems at my alma mater when I was a student and now is the cost. Spelman has one of the largest (if not the largest, I can't rmember) endowments of HBCUs, but when you compare it to a school like Emory Univeristy which is in the same city, it is peanuts. As a result, Spelman can't compete with the Emorys and Smiths of the world when it comes to scholarship dollars for deserving students. Those students either beg, borrow and..well, not steal
to pay for their freshman year, but then don't have the funds to pay for sophomore year, so they 'drop out' and impact graduation rates. My friends that did not graduate from Spelman, for the most part, did not do so because of the lack of education or their inability to master the classes, but many of them did not because they simply could not afford it. Many went on to graduate from state schools in their homestate.
I hope everyone on this list that is proudly proclaiming their love for their alma mater (especially those that went to HBCUs) are giving something to the school so currents students won't have to say "I would love to go to/stay at Spelman/Howard/Clark/Hampton, etc, but I can't afford to, so I will go to XX School that will give me money. Even $5 means that the % of alumni giving is increased and many major foundations look at that to determine if they will give. For those of us who have fond or not so fond memories of countless hours of standing in lines at registration, give a bit more so the school can upgrade the computers. LOL
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