The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines an HBCU as any historically black college or university that was established before 1964 and whose principal mission is to educate Black Americans. HBCUs must be accredited or making progress toward accreditation. HSIs are accredited colleges and universities with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent students enrolled. While the number of HBCUs cannot increase due to the 1964 establishment date, changing demographics in the U.S. means more institutions are identifying as HSIs every year.
There are currently 101 two-year and four-year HBCUs in the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. Of these, 27 awarded bachelor’s degrees in engineering in the 2018-19 academic year. As of 2019, there were 569 HSIs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Of these, 70 awarded bachelor’s degrees in engineering in the 2018-19 academic year.
There are more than 600 colleges and universities in the U.S. and U.S. territories that award at least one bachelor’s degree in engineering.
Find out more about HBCUs and HSIs awarding engineering degrees on SWE’s research site.
