Historically black colleges and universities

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern United States and were founded during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) following the American Civil War. Their original purpose was to provide education for African Americans in an era when most colleges and universities in the United States did not allow Black students to enroll.