PINE BLUFF, Ark. — The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff is bucking an enrollment trend seen at colleges nationwide.
"Across the country,” said Moses Goldmon, vice chancellor for enrollment management and student success at UAPB." “Enrollment is declining for most institutions, not all, but for the majority of institutions, and certainly for many of the historically Black colleges and universities."
One trend Goldmon noted that mainly affects HBCUs is a lack of Black men attending.
According to a report from the American Institute for Boys and Men, Black males made up 38% of the HBCU student population in 1976.
By 2022, that number had dropped to about 26%.
But it’s a trend Goldmon said they’ve managed to avoid.
"I was looking at some of our data,” Goldmon said. "I realized that ours, at that particular time, was around 40%. We settled in at about 38% this semester."
Goldmon had several ideas as to why that might be the case.
He mentioned that UAPB tries to get all students—particularly Black men—involved on campus early so they don’t fall through the cracks.
Additionally, he mentioned the Black Male Achievers organization on campus, which gets Black men involved in leadership opportunities, community service, and mentoring in local schools.
Student Government Association President and Little Rock Native Caleb Williams said that’s just one way of getting young Black men involved early during their time at UAPB.
"That's kind of the trend of a lot of students around here,” Williams said. “They never know what they're going to end up doing or the position they're going to end up in at the end of their college career."
Senior Xavier Brown of Crossett, Ark., said being at UAPB has given him opportunities he may not have had in his smaller hometown. He noted another reason the school might be seeing positive trends regarding Black male enrollment.
"We have many people on this campus,” Brown said. “From Ralph Owens, our Dean of Students, to Charles Colen, who's the chair of my department… to a number of other vast role models. I think that's something that gets left out often—that Black men, and men in general, need great role models."
Goldmon said it’s important to note that UAPB isn’t emphasizing black male success at the expense of other students.
He pointed to the school’s current student government, which is 45.9% Black males, leaving plenty of room for other groups to thrive and excel.
However, he said these trends are exciting and have been a point of emphasis for the school.
“We just realize that there are greater risks and challenges for African American males,” Goldmon said. “We want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to help them."
Overall, UAPB’s total enrollment is down slightly from last year, but they saw an increase in new students and a significant jump in the number of transfer students.