PWI or HBCU? Which is the best institution for you?
More stories from Eriana James
The controversial debate on whether a predominantly white institution (PWI) or a historically Black college and university (HBCU) is better than the other for African Americans is highly discussed in today’s era.
Some say that African Americans must decide whether to attend a college where the education is more cherished and rigorous than an institution that doesn’t have the same resources, but this isn’t always the case. A PWI doesn’t necessarily mean a higher learning institution, however, that is what many students think when they hear about these type of institutions; as compared to when a student hears about an HBCU, they often automatically think of a Black college that doesn’t have all the resources that a student should be offered.
There are some students who feel Black students should support their race and attend an HBCU as opposed to a PWI because HBCUs are the homes of African Americans. An individual that attends a PWI might feel as if they should take all the opportunity they are given and go to a PWI that offers them the best education that they can possibly get. I feel that if a person wants to go to an HBCU that is completely fine, and if a person wants to go to an PWI, that is also completely fine. Either way, that individual will go through an experience that will never be forgotten.
At an HBCU, you may be surrounded with your culture and are taken on a cultural experience. You can eat the food you love, listen to the music you like, enjoy the extracurriculars that are popular in your culture. It is also more fun when you are surrounded with you culture because the connection among everyone is indescribable.
At a PWI, you are experiencing an incredible opportunity that African Americans fought so hard to receive. You are given the advantage to succeed in a setting that many people didn’t want us to succeed in. Both institutions are amazing to attend. It is up to you to figure out where you will BEST fit in and how you would want to spend the next four years of your life.
