Well senior year is just around the corner for juniors graduating in “2010”. Many have questions about what should we do first as in applications, taking the college required test as far as the ACT and the SAT, and dealing with the fight of what school to attend to father their education.

When I was a eighth grader researching colleges and university I was told “to Your too young to be worried about college already”. Even though the comment was made I ignored it and I continued researching colleges I wanted to attend as far as HBCU’s and California University.

There are 105 historically black colleges (HBCU) in the United States today, including public and private, two-year and four-year institutions, medical schools and community colleges.^[2] Some colleges that operated for decades, closed in the 1930s and 1940s due to competition, the Great Depression and financial difficulties. Examples include Western University (Kansas) and Walden University, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines an HBCU as: "...any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation." ^[3]

Most HBCU's were established after the American Civil War. Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), established in 1854, and Wilberforce University, established in 1856, were two prominent institutions of higher education established for blacks prior to the American Civil War.

Other educational institutions currently have large numbers of blacks in their student body, but as they were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after the implementation of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (the court decision which outlawed racial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965, they are not historically black colleges, but have been termed "predominantly black." Some historically black colleges now have non-black majorities, notably West Virginia State University, whose student body has been roughly 90 percent white since the mid-1960s.

North Carolina and Alabama have the most Black Universities. Some popular HBCU’s are in Texas, Georgia, and Virginia.

ALABAMA

Alabama A&M University
Alabama State University
Bishop State Community College
Concordia College Selma

Miles College
Oakwood College
Stillman College
Talladega College
Tuskegee University

ARKANSAS

Arkansas Baptist College
Philander Smith College

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

CALIFORNIA

DELAWARE

Delaware State University

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA/ WASHINGTON, DC

Howard University
University of the District of Columbia

FLORIDA

Bethune-Cookman University
Edward Waters College

Florida A&M University
Florida Memorial University

GEORGIA

Albany State University
Clark Atlanta University
Fort Valley State University
Morehouse College

Morris Brown College
Paine College
Savannah State University
Spelman College

KENTUCKY

Kentucky State University

LOUISIANA

Dillard University
Grambling State University

Southern University and A&M College
Xavier University of Louisiana

MARYLAND

Bowie State University
Coppin State University

Morgan State University
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

MISSISSIPPI

Alcorn State University
Coahoma Community College
Jackson State University
Mississippi Valley State University

Rust College
Tougaloo College

MISSOURI

Harris-Stowe State University
Lincoln University of Missouri

NORTH CAROLINA

Barber-Scotia College
Bennett College
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
Johnson C. Smith University
Livingstone College

North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Central University
St. Augustine's College
Shaw University
Winston Salem State University

OHIO

Central State University
Wilberforce University

OKLAHOMA

Langston University

PENNSYLVANIA

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
Lincoln University

SOUTH CAROLINA

Allen University
Benedict College
Claflin University
Clinton Junior College

Denmark Technical College
Morris College
South Carolina State University
Voorhees College

TENNESSEE

Fisk University
Knoxville College
Lane College

LeMoyne-Owen College
Meharry Medical College
Tennessee State University

TEXAS

Huston-Tillotson University
Jarvis Christian College
Paul Quinn College
Prairie View A&M University

Texas College
Texas Southern University
Wiley College

VIRGINIA

Hampton University
Norfolk State University
Saint Paul's College

Virginia State University
Virginia Union University

WEST VIRGINIA

Bluefield State College
West Virginia State University

The ACT and SAT are very important High School junior should tack this test t the end of the school year. Which will be taken in June when the last test is given for the year? Many students should have a College Board account. If you do not you can create a account at Collegeboard.com. This web site is very helpful and will be for you jr year. Even if you are not in high school yet you can still apply because it will help you plan for your future. You’re not “too young to start planning for you future.”

My advice for the Class of 2010 is; this summer you should work on applications, collect recommendation letters, Write the addmission essays for your school and so forth. Whatever you feel that will help you during your senior year so that applications and deadlines don’t stress you.