New Research, New Questions: Social Foundations Scholarship on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Hbcus)‪.‬

Currently 300,000 students attend the nation's 105 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). These institutions award 28 percent of bachelor's degrees to African-American students and prepare students for graduate and professional programs throughout the country (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2004). While their effect on higher education is well known, there is much to be learned about exactly how they achieve it. Over the past 35 years, many researchers have shown an interest in Black colleges. However, much of the research now available is dated and doesn't speak directly to current national and global trends. For example, a good deal of the historical research stops in the 1930s, missing the impact of the post-war period, the Cold War, and much of the Civil Rights Movement on Black colleges (Anderson, 1988; Anderson & Moss, 1999; Watkins, 2001). Although there has been significant sociological research, it is most often focused on the impact of Black colleges on student experiences--thus ignoring a cadre of other issues, such as governance, academic freedom, faculty, administration, and fund raising (e.g., Conrad et al, 1997; Fleming, 1984; Freeman, 1998; Garibaldi, 1991; Ross, 2003). On occasion, scholars have authored philosophical research on Black colleges (e.g., Allen & Jewel, 2002; Price, 1998). However, at a time when Black access to historically White institutions is once again in decline, we need additional scholarship to treat more comprehensively the basic assumptions and questions behind the African-American institutions that might fill the higher education gap. The social foundations of education offer an important context for the study of Black colleges. Like most fields, the social foundations of education (henceforth referred to as "social foundations") exist within an historical context of contested norms and ideas. One of the primary characteristics of social foundations research is the promotion of social justice in both the educational process and in society generally. In this regard, social foundations research speaks directly to the history and development of HBCUs. Although their origins remain controversial, Black colleges were founded with the ostensible mission of uplift for the former slaves. Over the years, they have solidified this mission and become key players in the overall struggle for social equality among African Americans. The hallmark of this struggle has been the pursuit of social justice within the context of the racial discrimination that has permeated American life.