The Pros And Cons Of HBCU

“A report from the National Science Foundation found that HBCUs produce the largest amount of African American students that go on to pursue PhD’s in the STEM areas. In fact, approximately 33% of African American students receiving their PhDs in STEM attained bachelor’s degrees from HBCUs. To put that in perspective, roughly 105 institutions are producing a third of all African Americans obtaining PhDs in STEM fields” (Gasman & Commodore). This statistic shows that even with fewer resources than PWI’s HBCU’s produce their fair share of driven students. However, no one likes to talk about this. An HBCU is “a college or university that was originally founded to educate students of African-American descent” (Oxford Dictionaries). A PWI is a Predominantly …show more content…
This is something that has become a topic of debate recently. It has been argued that earning a 4.0 at an HBCU cannot be compared to earning a 4.0 at a Predominantly White Institution. The belief is that at PWI’s they offer a more challenging and or rigorous course load and because of this their grading scale holds more weight. However, when analyzing this idea there are many flaws. Matthew Lynch did an interview with George Johnson, student accounts manager at Georgetown University and former graduate of two HBCU’s. When asked about the topic of the comparison between a 4.0 at an HBCU and a 4.0 at a PWI, Johnson said “Generally speaking a 4.0 at an HBCU does have the same value as a 4.0 at a PWI. I say this because a 4.0 simply means you were able to master the subject matter being studied with the highest grade possible for the requirements of the degree or course” (Johnson). A 4.0 is a 4.0 is a 4.0. A 4.0 GPA shows that you have achieved complete mastery of the courses you have taken. There is no evidence proving that if you achieve a grade point average of a 4.0 at an HBCU you are not as smart as someone who achieved it at a