Enrollment issues extend beyond St. Augustine's University: Only two HBCUs in NC seeing growth, data shows

The money troubles are just one facet of the issues at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh. Enrollment is another.

The student body population at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh sat around 1,100 in the fall 2022, the most recent year federal data is available for; dwindling from about 1,400 students a decade prior.

It’s a 23% drop during a 10-year period.

While that is significant, federal education data shows that rate is in the lower half of all North Carolina historically Black colleges and universities.

However, federal education data shows St. Augustine's University isn’t the only HBCU struggling with that.

As a state, the combined enrollment of our 10 accredited HBCUs is down, but only by 4%. Over the last 10 years, nationwide HBCU enrollment has dropped by 16%.

However, looking at individual schools, it becomes clearer that some universities are losing students at a much higher rate in the past decade. Six of the state’s 10 historically Black colleges and universities have seen greater decreases than the national average in that same period.

For example, another Raleigh-based school, Shaw University, has had its student population halved – enrollment dropping from about 2,200 students to a little more than 1,000.

Greensboro-based Bennett College saw the largest decrease, down 76% amid accreditation issues.

Some HBCUs in the state have seen notable growth though. North Carolina A&T has 2,800 more students now than they did in 2012 – a 26% increase. And Fayetteville State University’s population has gone up by 12%.

Nationwide, higher ed in its entirety is experiencing a decline - down 13% in that time. All North Carolina colleges and universities have seen an 11% decrease.