Hard times at Howard University

Historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, once held a monopoly. Today they struggle to compete with elite colleges that have stepped up recruiting for the best and brightest black students. Last week Howard University announced that it was cutting about 200 staff positions, writes Charlayne Hunter-Gault for The New York Times.

Other uncomfortable realities include new restrictions on the federal loans that many students depend on (89% of Howard’s receive some sort of financial aid). Howard’s teaching hospital has also been a drain on resources. And Howard has been hit with a downgrade of its credit rating by Moody’s Investors Service that makes fund-raising even more difficult.

Howard is not unique in the constellation of private and public HBCUs, or even in the overall higher education community. Earlier this year, Moody’s put out a negative outlook on the entire higher education sector. But as the saying goes, when white America catches a cold, black America catches pneumonia.
Full report on The New York Times site